Half of Marcols-les-Eaux is over 64.6, older than 99% of compared French towns
The share of flats is 13%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Fewer couples with children than in 86% of compared French towns: 17%. Marcols-les-Eaux counted 291 residents and 110 households at the 2023 Census. 9.7% of homes stand empty.
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 Marcols-les-Eaux
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 140 second homes and occasional dwellings in Marcols-les-Eaux, 51% of its 270 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 90% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Marcols-les-Eaux’s residents are under 64.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 50% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 21% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Marcols-les-Eaux had 319 residents at the 2012 census and 291 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
47% of Marcols-les-Eaux’s households are one person: higher than in 89% of compared French towns; 22% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A higher share of second homes than 97% of compared French towns, at 51%
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
Nearly one in ten households rent social housing (HLM); in the typical compared French town the figure is 12%. By contrast, households without a car are more common here than in 56% of compared French towns. Against that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Since 2012, Marcols-les-Eaux has changed by −9%, slower than 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
In two steps, −7% to 2017 and −2% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +4% in Ardèche.
In Marcols-les-Eaux, 50% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 99% 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
■ Marcols-les-Eaux 64.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, against 3.2% in Marcols-les-Eaux. Across the comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
Marcols-les-Eaux: 47% of households are one person living alone, above 89% 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
The average household has 1.8 people. Compared with other places, single-parent households are scarce here: 9%, fewer than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. The benchmark for one-person households in the typical compared French town: 35%.
Standard of living at the median: €21,880 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.
At €21,880 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 89% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a manual worker than 56% of compared French towns: 13%
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
About one in 11: that is how common households headed by a manager or professional are in Marcols-les-Eaux (9.2%). The town has more households headed by a retired person than 51% of compared French towns, at 33%. 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).
A higher share of foreign nationals than 80% of compared French towns, at 9.3%
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.
In Marcols-les-Eaux, just over one in ten residents are immigrants, beside 6.5% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
Marcols-les-Eaux ranks below 67% of compared French towns on married residents: 40%
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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 27% of residents 15 and over are single in Marcols-les-Eaux. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
26% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 63% 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
19% of adults out of school have no qualification, or about one in five. On average, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 291 to 2,582 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Marcols-les-Eaux (64.6), the oldest.
Marcols-les-Eaux is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcols-les-Eaux | 64.6 | 50% | 51% | 11% |
| Le Cheylard 2,803 · 6.7 mi | 56.8 | 38% | 8.3% | 2.2% |
| Vals-les-Bains 3,474 · 10.4 mi | 56.1 | 36% | 24% | 5.2% |
| Privas 8,538 · 11.2 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.3% | 10% |
| Aubenas 12,416 · 13.5 mi | 47.9 | 29% | 5.3% | 12% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon 2,920 · 15 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| Chomérac 3,183 · 15 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 Marcols-les-Eaux
What is the population of Marcols-les-Eaux?
291 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (319).
How old are Marcols-les-Eaux’s residents?
The median age is 64.6, older than 99% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 50% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Marcols-les-Eaux?
140, with occasional dwellings: 51% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Marcols-les-Eaux?
INSEE counts 31 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 27 foreign nationals (9.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Marcols-les-Eaux?
€21,880 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.