A larger share of households headed by a manual worker than 94% of compared French towns: 24%
The figure for empty homes is 11% in Valserhône and 6.7% in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 25% of households rent social housing (HLM). 17% of residents are 65 or over, a lower share than in 81% of compared French towns. The town had 16,712 residents in 7,410 households at the 2023 census.
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 Valserhône
Immigrants
INSEE counts 3,500 immigrants in Valserhône (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 21% of residents, against 8.5% for the median compared commune in Ain. 16% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Valserhône grew +6% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 55% 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 +4%; 2017 to 2023, +2%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Ain town +13%.
A median age of 40.3: Valserhône is younger than 78% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Valserhône 40.3. The median compared French town: 44.
In Valserhône, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
In Valserhône, 38% of households are one person living alone, more than in 60% 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
At 9.2%, the share of single-parent households is in line with the figure in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2.2 people each. Compared with other places, couples with children are common here: 27%, more than in three fifths of compared French towns.
Valserhône sits above 85% of compared French towns for flats (62%)
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
Valserhône sits close to the norm on second homes: 2.9%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats. Across Valserhône, 13% of households have no car.
€27,090 a year: the median 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.
Half of Valserhône’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €27,090 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 62% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 18.0% of residents are below the line.
25% of households are headed by a retired person, below 82% 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
Nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional. In the typical compared French town, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
21% of residents are immigrants, a share 94% of compared French towns don’t reach
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. The median compared commune in Ain has 8.5%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 94% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Valserhône: 46% of residents 15 and over are married, above 70% 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 share of single residents tops 62% of compared French towns: 27%. The wider picture: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
More adults with no qualification than 70% of compared French towns: 23%
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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 26% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Valserhône. In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
13th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 16,123 to 17,319
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Saint-Julien-en-Genevois is the youngest (35.4); La Baule-Escoublac the oldest (60.4).
Of the 6 towns nearest Valserhône, 2 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 Valserhône
What is the population of Valserhône?
16,712 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (15,764).
How old are Valserhône’s residents?
The median age is 40.3, younger than 78% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Valserhône?
250, with occasional dwellings: 2.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Valserhône?
INSEE counts 3,530 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 21% of residents, and 2,670 foreign nationals (16%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Valserhône?
€27,090 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% 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.