A smaller share of flats than 99% of compared French towns: 1.6%
Single-parent households: 5.9% here and 10% in the typical compared French town. In 2023, the Census found 172 residents in Merry-Sec, living in 87 households. For Merry-Sec, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 6.5%. More households headed by a retired person than in 86% of compared French towns: 41%.
Throughout this page, the Yonne median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
What stands out about the people of Merry-Sec
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 18 second homes and occasional dwellings in Merry-Sec, 14% of its 130 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 23 homes empty (18%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 98% of compared French towns: 18% of homes stand empty
Every home the census counted: main residences, second homes and occasional dwellings (INSEE counts them together), and empty homes. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
All homes · share of homes
Type of home
Cars per household · share of households
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The share of empty homes in the typical compared French town is 6.7%. About one in seven: that is how common second homes are in Merry-Sec (14%). In the typical compared French town, 11% of households have no car; here, 8.2%.
Slower than most: −1% since 2012, behind 72% of compared French towns
Residents at INSEE’s last three censuses, each recast in the 2026 commune boundaries. France has no yearly estimate by commune between censuses.
2012 to 2023
2017 to 2023
Over those years, the median Yonne town changed −4% and the median compared French town +5%.
Older than 83% of compared French towns: half of Merry-Sec is over 49.9
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Merry-Sec 49.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over account for 22%.
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 119 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Merry-Sec sits above 74% of compared French towns for one-person households (41%)
A household is everyone who shares a main home (résidence principale). Household types come from INSEE’s fuller sample of a quarter of census forms.
Against the Yonne median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2 people. For one-person households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 35%. 24% of households are couples with children, a lower share than in 59% of compared French towns.
Half above, half below €23,430 a year in standard of living
The standard of living (niveau de vie) is a household’s disposable income after taxes and benefits, divided by its consumption units (UC) to allow for its size and make-up: 1 for the first adult, 0.5 for each other person 14 or older, 0.3 for each child under 14.
Medians of compared communes. Source: INSEE, Filosofi 2023.
The midpoint of living standards here is €23,430 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
5.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 77% of compared French towns
Households by the socio-professional group (PCS) of their reference person, INSEE’s own categories. Jobs and commuting are on the Work & commute page.
Households by reference person’s group · share of households
Households headed by a manual worker make up 18%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 1.2% of residents are immigrants in Merry-Sec
INSEE publishes two measures, which overlap but aren’t the same. Neither is the UK’s “born abroad”.
Share of residents · census 2023
Immigrant (immigré)
Born abroad, not French at birth. Someone stays an immigrant after becoming French. A French citizen born abroad (for example in Algeria before 1962) is not one.
Foreign national (étranger)
Not a French citizen today, wherever born. A child born in France to foreign parents can be a foreign national without being an immigrant.
The median compared commune in Yonne has 9.2%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 98% of compared French towns. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Merry-Sec, 37% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 82% of compared French towns
Residents 15 and over by how they live: the census asks both the legal status and whether people live as a couple.
Residents 15 and over · share
The figure for single residents is 23% in Merry-Sec and 25% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for married residents in the typical compared French town: 43%.
Graduates of higher education: 23%, a lower share than 74% of compared French towns
Highest diploma of residents 15 and over who have left education, in French terms: the levels don’t map one-to-one to UK or U.S. ones.
Highest diploma · 15 and over, out of education
In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%; Merry-Sec has 17%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (172 to 2,582 people), the 14th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Merry-Sec and its 6 nearest towns: 4 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Census 2023. INSEE’s census is a rolling survey: a fifth of small communes each year, 8% of homes in large ones each year. “2023” pools the surveys of 2021 to 2025, so the figures describe the town around 2023, not on one day.
- Medians of compared communes. The comparisons are the median of the département’s compared communes and of France’s (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median: not the total for the département or for France, which large cities pull towards their own figures.
- Immigrants and foreign nationals. INSEE’s two measures: an immigrant was born abroad without French nationality; a foreign national isn’t French today. Neither is a count of people born abroad, which INSEE doesn’t publish by commune.
- Second homes. Homes used for holidays or weekends, with occasional dwellings (kept for work, for example), which INSEE counts together. Their owners are counted where they live, not here.
- Standard of living. INSEE’s Filosofi: disposable income per consumption unit, from tax and benefit files, 2023. The poverty rate is the share of residents below 60% of France’s median. Not published for the smallest communes.
- What France doesn’t ask. The French census asks nothing about ethnicity, religion, language or health, so this page has no such section.
Questions about who lives in Merry-Sec
What is the population of Merry-Sec?
172 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (173).
How old are Merry-Sec’s residents?
The median age is 49.9, older than 83% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Merry-Sec?
18, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Merry-Sec?
INSEE counts 2 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.2% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Merry-Sec?
€23,430 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). Source: INSEE, Filosofi.
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, ages, households, homes, marital status, diplomas, immigrants, foreign nationals, employment), 2026 geography · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (standard of living, poverty) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 4, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.