A median age of 54.4: La Petite-Marche is older than 93% of compared French towns
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 167 residents and 86 households in La Petite-Marche. Locally, 50% of households are headed by a retired person. 2.5% of homes stand empty, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town.
Throughout this page, the Allier 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 La Petite-Marche
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 68 second homes and occasional dwellings in La Petite-Marche, 43% of its 160 homes: higher than in 97% 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 ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
La Petite-Marche had 196 residents at the 2012 census and 167 in 2023, down 15%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of La Petite-Marche’s residents are under 54.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 43% of its homes
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
Where 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, La Petite-Marche has 1.2%. Put another way, about one in 40: 2.5% of homes are flats. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%.
La Petite-Marche changed by −15% from 2012 to 2023, behind 99% 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 median Allier town changed −1% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −10% and the next six −5%.
La Petite-Marche sits above 84% of compared French towns for residents aged 65 and over (29%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ La Petite-Marche 54.4. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24; in La Petite-Marche, 8.4%. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
In La Petite-Marche, 44% of households are one person living alone, more than in 82% 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 Allier median and the France median
Living alone · share
Where a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, La Petite-Marche has 22%. The comparison figure for one-person households is 35% in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €21,160 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.
Living standards centre on €21,160 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 93% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a manual worker than 70% of compared French towns: 11%
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 manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
La Petite-Marche ranks below 88% of compared French towns on immigrants: 2.4%
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 Allier has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 88% of compared French towns. The census found that 1.2% of residents are foreign nationals in La Petite-Marche. Elsewhere, 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.
Below 85% of compared French towns: 37% of residents 15 and over are married
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 29%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married.
24% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 72% 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
About one in six: that is how common adults with no qualification are in La Petite-Marche (18%). In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
Among 41 French towns of 167 to 2,582 people, the 7th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Every neighbor is younger than La Petite-Marche
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Petite-Marche | 54.4 | 29% | 43% | 2.4% |
| Prémilhat 2,540 · 9.1 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 2.3% | 5.9% |
| Montluçon 33,147 · 10.3 mi | 46.9 | 28% | 3.1% | 11% |
| Commentry 6,017 · 10.5 mi | 53.8 | 33% | 2.4% | 4.6% |
| Désertines 4,259 · 11.6 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 1.5% | 5% |
| Domérat 8,622 · 11.7 mi | 53.5 | 33% | 1.6% | 4.4% |
| Saint-Éloy-les-Mines 3,480 · 12.8 mi | 53.4 | 32% | 4.8% | 6.2% |
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 La Petite-Marche
What is the population of La Petite-Marche?
167 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 15% fewer than in 2012 (196).
How old are La Petite-Marche’s residents?
The median age is 54.4, older than 93% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Petite-Marche?
68, with occasional dwellings: 43% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Petite-Marche?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.4% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (1.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Petite-Marche?
€21,160 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 9, 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.