Couples with children: 14%, a lower share than 94% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 22%; Aubenas has 29%. The town is home to 12,416 residents in 6,570 households, by the 2023 Census. 5.3% of its homes are second homes; 12% of residents are immigrants. On flats, Aubenas sits higher than 84% of compared French towns: 61%.
Throughout this page, the Ardèche 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 Aubenas
Many people living alone
52% of Aubenas’ households are one person: higher than in 96% of compared French towns; 38% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 1,130 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Aubenas has grown +8%, faster than 63% 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 Ardèche town changed +4% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +6%, then +2% to 2023.
Half of Aubenas is over 47.9, older than 74% 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
■ Aubenas 47.9. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 12%, against 11% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardèche 52.7%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A larger share of one-person households than 96% of compared French towns: 52%
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 Ardèche median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 1.8 people on average. Measured more widely, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Few places have as many single-parent households: 12% here, more than in three quarters of compared French towns.
Aubenas sits above 93% of compared French towns for empty homes (14%)
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
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car in Aubenas comes in at 19%. For Aubenas, the census puts households in social housing at 15%. The usual figure: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
€21,530 a year is the median standard of living here
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 €21,530 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 91% of compared French towns. Some 26.0% of residents fall below the poverty line.
Aubenas sits below 76% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (6.1%)
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 retired person account for 33%. Compared with other places, households headed by a manual worker are common here: 14%, more than in 53% of compared French towns.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 12% in Aubenas, more than in 79% 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.
The median compared commune in Ardèche has 9.3%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 79% of compared French towns. Against that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. About one in ten: that is how common foreign nationals are in Aubenas (9.6%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents: 34%, a higher share than 91% 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
In the median compared French town 43% are married and 6.1% in a PACS; here it is 35% and 3.3%, and 9.1% are widowed. Measured more widely, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
In Aubenas, 23% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 71% 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
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 26% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification here. As a yardstick, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
8th highest median age among 41 French towns of 12,139 to 12,677
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villetaneuse (33.2), the youngest, and Granville (58.9), the oldest.
Aubenas sits below 5 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aubenas | 47.9 | 29% | 5.3% | 12% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon 2,920 · 1.5 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| Vals-les-Bains 3,474 · 3.5 mi | 56.1 | 36% | 24% | 5.2% |
| Villeneuve-de-Berg 3,031 · 6.9 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 8% | 5.1% |
| Privas 8,538 · 12.8 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.3% | 10% |
| Chomérac 3,183 · 15 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 5.1% | 3.9% |
| Le Teil 8,726 · 15.1 mi | 43 | 22% | 2.9% | 13% |
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 Aubenas
What is the population of Aubenas?
12,416 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% more than in 2012 (11,505).
How old are Aubenas’ residents?
The median age is 47.9, older than 74% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Aubenas?
430, with occasional dwellings: 5.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Aubenas?
INSEE counts 1,530 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 12% of residents, and 1,190 foreign nationals (9.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Aubenas?
€21,530 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 26.0% 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.