Fewer households without a car than 99% of compared French towns: 2.7%
Flats: 3.4%, below 98% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Mercuer’s population at 1,325, in 600 households. Residents aged 15 to 24 make up about one in 12 here (8.1%). Fewer households in social housing than in 91% of compared French towns: 3.9%.
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.
A +14% change since 2012: faster than 80% 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 +4%; from 2017 to 2023, +10%.
Older than 85% of compared French towns: half of Mercuer is over 50.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mercuer 50.5. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over tops 78% of compared French towns: 27%.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardèche 52.7%, France 51.8%.
A lower share of single-parent households than 92% of compared French towns, at 6.7%
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
On average, 2.2 people share a household. In the typical compared French town, single-parent households come to 10%. Mercuer has fewer one-person households than 78% of compared French towns, at 30%. Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children in Mercuer comes in at 29%.
Above 81% of compared French towns: 6.3% of homes are second 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
Empty homes make up 5.1%, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Long tenure is the mark of 32% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 7.2% (under two years).
€26,870 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.
The median standard of living in Mercuer is €26,870 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 60% of compared French towns.
8.4% of households are headed by a manual worker, below 85% 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
Here just over a third of households are headed by a retired person, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 32%. Measured more widely, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. Locally, 10% 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).
3% of residents are immigrants, below 82% 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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 1.4% of residents are foreign nationals in Mercuer. Typically, 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 97% of compared French towns: 18% of residents 15 and over are single
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 43% in the typical compared French town, 50% of residents 15 and over are married in Mercuer. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
15% of adults out of school have no qualification, below 70% 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
In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in Mercuer, 34%. The wider picture: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,325 to 2,582 people: this is the 13th 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.
Mercuer and its 6 nearest towns: 1 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercuer | 50.5 | 27% | 6.3% | 3% |
| Aubenas 12,416 · 1.9 mi | 47.9 | 29% | 5.3% | 12% |
| Vals-les-Bains 3,474 · 2.4 mi | 56.1 | 36% | 24% | 5.2% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon 2,920 · 2.6 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| Villeneuve-de-Berg 3,031 · 8.8 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 8% | 5.1% |
| Privas 8,538 · 13.7 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.3% | 10% |
| Chomérac 3,183 · 16.2 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 Mercuer
What is the population of Mercuer?
1,325 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 14% more than in 2012 (1,163).
How old are Mercuer’s residents?
The median age is 50.5, older than 85% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mercuer?
42, with occasional dwellings: 6.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mercuer?
INSEE counts 40 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3% of residents, and 19 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mercuer?
€26,870 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 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.