Payzac sits above 97% of compared French towns for second homes (43%)
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 539 residents in Payzac, living in 250 households. Locally, 3.7% of households have no car. 31% of residents are 65 or over (typical compared French town: 22%).
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 Payzac
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 210 second homes and occasional dwellings in Payzac, 43% of its 490 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 84% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
9.4% of homes are flats, below 88% 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
In the typical compared French town, 6.7% of homes stand empty; in Payzac, 5.4%. Elsewhere, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
From 2012 to 2023, 79% of compared French towns grew faster than Payzac: −2%
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 −3%; 2017 to 2023, +1%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Ardèche town +4%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 4.9%, a lower share than 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
■ Payzac 48.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Payzac’s residents are over 48.8, older than in 78% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
Only 13% of households are couples with children in Payzac
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 2 people. Typically, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. 14% of households are single parents, more than in 92% of compared French towns. Here just over two in five households are one person living alone, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 35%.
A median of €23,950 a year per consumption unit
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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €23,950 a year: lower than in 72% of compared French towns.
4.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 92% 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
With households headed by a manual worker at 12%, Payzac is behind 63% of compared French towns on that count. Typically, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. The share of households headed by a retired person stands at 42%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
More foreign nationals than 73% of compared French towns: 7.7%
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.
Against a figure of 6.5% in the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants in Payzac comes in at 8.8%. The median compared commune in Ardèche has 9.3%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 65% of compared French towns. The benchmark for foreign nationals in the typical compared French town: 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 40% of residents 15 and over are married in Payzac
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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Payzac comes in at 27%. The usual figure: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
10% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 94% 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
With graduates of higher education at 33%, Payzac is ahead of 60% of compared French towns on that count. The usual figure: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 539 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Older than Payzac: 4 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payzac | 48.8 | 31% | 43% | 8.8% |
| Les Vans 2,662 · 3.5 mi | 58.6 | 39% | 25% | 8.7% |
| Bessèges 2,606 · 11.4 mi | 59.4 | 40% | 9.6% | 4.7% |
| Saint-Ambroix 3,445 · 13.7 mi | 56.1 | 37% | 7.8% | 5% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon 2,920 · 15 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| Aubenas 12,416 · 16.3 mi | 47.9 | 29% | 5.3% | 12% |
| La Grand-Combe 4,783 · 17.5 mi | 46.3 | 27% | 1% | 11% |
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 Payzac
What is the population of Payzac?
539 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (552).
How old are Payzac’s residents?
The median age is 48.8, older than 78% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Payzac?
210, with occasional dwellings: 43% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Payzac?
INSEE counts 48 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.8% of residents, and 42 foreign nationals (7.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Payzac?
€23,950 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.