Photo: François GOGLINS · CC BY-SA 4.06.2% of households have no car, fewer than in 79% of compared French towns
Set against 35% in the typical compared French town, 30% of households are one person living alone in Viriat. At the 2023 Census Viriat was home to 7,102 people in 2,970 households. 20% of homes are flats, or about one in five. Few places have as many households headed by a retired person: 34% here, more than in 61% 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.
Viriat grew +15% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 82% 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 Ain town changed +13% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +4%, then +11% to 2023.
A median age of 43: Viriat is younger than 58% 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
■ Viriat 43. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over trails 63% of compared French towns: 20%. On the census count, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
27% of households are couples with children, a share 62% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 2.3 people in the average household. Compared with other places, single-parent households are scarce here: 9.9%, fewer than in just over half of compared French towns. For comparison, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
5.7% of homes stand empty, below 64% of compared French towns
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
Without a car: one household in 16, against 11% in the median compared French town. In the typical compared French town, empty homes come to 6.7%. Of all households, 9.5% moved in during the last two years and 23% have stayed three decades or more. On second homes, Viriat sits lower than 55% of compared French towns: 1.8%.
€28,600 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.
At €28,600 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 76% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 8.0% of residents are below the line.
9.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 52% 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 about one in seven here (14%). The wider picture: nearly one in ten 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).
Immigrants make up 6.8% of Viriat’s residents
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.
Immigrants make up a share higher than in 52% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Ain has 8.5%. On the census count, 4.7% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A higher share of married residents than 92% of compared French towns, at 50%
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
By its share of single residents (22%), Viriat is below 77% of compared French towns. Against that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Below 68% of compared French towns: 16% of adults out of school have no qualification
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
Put another way, about one in three: 31% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. Measured more widely, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 18th youngest of 41 French towns of 7,004 to 7,202 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Sathonay-Camp is the youngest (35.7); Trégunc the oldest (56.6).
Viriat is younger than 4 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viriat | 43 | 20% | 1.8% | 6.8% |
| Bourg-en-Bresse 42,372 · 2.9 mi | 41.4 | 23% | 2.5% | 19% |
| Saint-Denis-lès-Bourg 6,160 · 3 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 1.2% | 8.2% |
| Attignat 3,409 · 3.8 mi | 42.1 | 19% | 1.2% | 3.7% |
| Polliat 2,741 · 4.1 mi | 45.7 | 24% | 1.2% | 2.6% |
| Péronnas 6,444 · 4.2 mi | 48.1 | 28% | 1.7% | 8.6% |
| Saint-Étienne-du-Bois 2,584 · 4.4 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 1.7% | 4.5% |
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 Viriat
What is the population of Viriat?
7,102 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 15% more than in 2012 (6,160).
How old are Viriat’s residents?
The median age is 43, younger than 58% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Viriat?
58, with occasional dwellings: 1.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Viriat?
INSEE counts 480 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.8% of residents, and 340 foreign nationals (4.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Viriat?
€28,600 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 8.0% 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.