Households in social housing make up 0.8% in Darbres, less than in 99% of compared French towns
8.5% of residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). The 2023 Census counted 272 residents in 120 households. Across Darbres, 5.4% of homes are flats. Compared with other places, households without a car are scarce here: 4.9%, fewer than in 89% of compared French towns.
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 Darbres
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 41 second homes and occasional dwellings in Darbres, 22% of its 180 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 95% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Darbres had 229 residents at the 2012 census and 272 in 2023, up 19%: faster growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 21 homes empty (11%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Darbres: 22% of homes are second homes, above 94% 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
Just over one in ten households moved in less than two years ago; 15% have been in their home 30 years or more. Set beside that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Few places have as many empty homes: 11% here, more than in 86% of compared French towns.
A +19% change since 2012: faster than 88% 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 +8%; 2017 to 2023, +10%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Ardèche town +4%.
A median age of 48: Darbres is 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
■ Darbres 48. The median compared French town: 44.
For Darbres, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 23%.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardèche 52.7%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 7.7%, a lower share than 84% 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 Ardèche median and the France median
Living alone · share
Compared with 35% in the typical compared French town, nearly two in five households are one person living alone here. Couples with children are rarer here than in just over three fifths of compared French towns. Single-parent households make up 10% in the typical compared French town. The average household has 2.1 people.
At the median, €22,270 a year to live on
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.
The median standard of living in Darbres is €22,270 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 87% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person make up 35% in Darbres, more than in 62% 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
Where nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, Darbres has 12%. Still, households headed by a manual worker are rarer here than in two thirds of compared French towns. Typically, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A higher share of foreign nationals than 75% of compared French towns, at 8.1%
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 9.6%, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. The share of foreign nationals in the typical compared French town is 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 59% of compared French towns: 44%
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
25% of residents 15 and over are single. In the median compared French town 43% are married and 6.1% in a PACS; here it is 44% and 3.4%, and 7.3% are widowed.
In Darbres, 16% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 66% 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
31% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. The share of adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Among 41 French towns of 272 to 2,582 people, the 15th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Nearby, 5 of 6 towns have older populations than Darbres
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darbres | 48 | 23% | 22% | 9.6% |
| Aubenas 12,416 · 6.2 mi | 47.9 | 29% | 5.3% | 12% |
| Villeneuve-de-Berg 3,031 · 6.4 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 8% | 5.1% |
| Privas 8,538 · 7 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.3% | 10% |
| Vals-les-Bains 3,474 · 7.2 mi | 56.1 | 36% | 24% | 5.2% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon 2,920 · 7.3 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| Chomérac 3,183 · 8.7 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 5.1% | 3.9% |
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 Darbres
What is the population of Darbres?
272 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 19% more than in 2012 (229).
How old are Darbres’ residents?
The median age is 48, older than 74% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Darbres?
41, with occasional dwellings: 22% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Darbres?
INSEE counts 26 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.6% of residents, and 22 foreign nationals (8.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Darbres?
€22,270 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 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.