In Arbent, 34% of households are couples with children, more than in 91% of compared French towns
In Arbent, 5.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional, beside 9.4% in the typical compared French town. 3,555 residents in 1,440 households: that is Arbent at the 2023 Census. Here, 6.4% of households have no car. Few places have so few second homes: 1% here, fewer than in 81% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Ain 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 Arbent
Immigrants
INSEE counts 900 immigrants in Arbent (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 24% of residents, against 8.5% for the median compared commune in Ain. 16% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 4.9% single parents with children; 18% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
+3% since 2012, a pace below 56% 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
The years 2012 to 2017 brought −2%; 2017 to 2023, +6%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Ain town +13%.
Arbent is older than 50% of compared French towns: a median age of 44.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Arbent 44.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in half of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
In Arbent, 4.9% of households are single parents, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
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 Ain median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2.5 people in the average household. 28% of households are one person living alone, a lower share than in 86% of compared French towns. The benchmark for single-parent households in the typical compared French town: 10%.
Arbent sits above 86% of compared French towns for households in social housing (25%)
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
Turnover: 7.6% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 28% have lived in their home 30 years or more. For households in social housing, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 12%. More flats than in 56% of compared French towns: 34%. One household in 16 has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €25,250 a year
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.
Half of Arbent’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,250 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 57% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 14.0%.
More households headed by a manual worker than 99% of compared French towns: 30%
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
Here 36% of households are headed by a retired person, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 32%. The share of households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 24% in Arbent, more than in 96% of compared French towns
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.
Foreign nationals: 16% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
57% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 99% 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
Single residents make up 21%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married.
More adults with no qualification than 94% of compared French towns: 31%
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
The share of graduates of higher education trails 83% of compared French towns: 21%. In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
41 French towns of 3,535 to 3,573 people: this is the 16th youngest
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 Rubelles (34.9), the oldest Deauville (63.3).
Median age: 1 of the 6 towns around Arbent are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arbent | 44.1 | 22% | 1% | 24% |
| Oyonnax 22,480 · 2.3 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 2.1% | 33% |
| Bellignat 3,525 · 3.3 mi | 40.8 | 21% | 1.7% | 26% |
| Montréal-la-Cluse 3,568 · 8.6 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 2.2% | 23% |
| Nantua 3,416 · 9.7 mi | 42.3 | 23% | 3.6% | 27% |
| Saint-Claude 8,386 · 11.4 mi | 48.5 | 26% | 5.1% | 20% |
| Péron 2,916 · 13.3 mi | 37.1 | 10% | 6.5% | 25% |
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 Arbent
What is the population of Arbent?
3,555 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (3,440).
How old are Arbent’s residents?
The median age is 44.1, older than 50% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Arbent?
15, with occasional dwellings: 1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Arbent?
INSEE counts 870 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 24% of residents, and 560 foreign nationals (16%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Arbent?
€25,250 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 14.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.