Le Cheylard is older than 96% of compared French towns: a median age of 56.8
By its share of households headed by a retired person (44%), Le Cheylard is above 92% of compared French towns. At 8.3%, the share of second homes is higher than in 86% of compared French towns. This Ardèche town is home to 2,803 residents in 1,450 households, by the 2023 Census. Put another way, about one in seven: 14% of households are couples with children.
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 Le Cheylard
An older town
Half of Le Cheylard’s residents are under 56.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 38% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Le Cheylard had 3,098 residents at the 2012 census and 2,803 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 340 homes empty (17%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
47% of Le Cheylard’s households are one person: higher than in 88% of compared French towns; 33% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −10% since 2012, behind 96% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was −5%; from 2017 to 2023, −5%.
38% of residents are 65 or over, a share 97% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Le Cheylard 56.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, against 7% in Le Cheylard. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
47% of households are one person living alone, more than in 88% 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
Single-parent households: 6.9%, below 90% of compared French towns. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. There are 1.8 people in the average household.
Le Cheylard: 17% of homes stand empty, above 98% 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
Where 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town, Le Cheylard has 16%. Across Le Cheylard, 46% of homes are flats. Empty homes: 6.7% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €24,550 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.
Half of Le Cheylard’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,550 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 66% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 13.0% of residents.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 5.9%, a lower share than 78% 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
For Le Cheylard, the census puts households headed by a manual worker at 14%. In the typical compared French town, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of immigrants than 89% of compared French towns, at 2.2%
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 lower than in 89% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 1.7% 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.
In Le Cheylard, 27% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 64% 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
Married residents come to 42% in Le Cheylard, about four in ten. Typically, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Le Cheylard ranks below 76% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 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
Where 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Le Cheylard has 23%. By way of comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 2,772 to 2,834 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.
The youngest is La Fère (39.7), the oldest Le Cheylard (56.8).
Among its 4 nearest neighbors, 1 are older than Le Cheylard
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Cheylard | 56.8 | 38% | 8.3% | 2.2% |
| Le Chambon-sur-Lignon 2,501 · 11.9 mi | 57.9 | 38% | 36% | 5.9% |
| Privas 8,538 · 14.8 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.3% | 10% |
| Tence 3,111 · 15.7 mi | 51.6 | 29% | 19% | 1.9% |
| Vals-les-Bains 3,474 · 17.1 mi | 56.1 | 36% | 24% | 5.2% |
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 Le Cheylard
What is the population of Le Cheylard?
2,803 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (3,098).
How old are Le Cheylard’s residents?
The median age is 56.8, older than 96% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 38% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Le Cheylard?
160, with occasional dwellings: 8.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Le Cheylard?
INSEE counts 62 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.2% of residents, and 48 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Le Cheylard?
€24,550 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 13.0% 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 8, 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.