A larger share of second homes than 94% of compared French towns: 23%
6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, against 1.8% in Prades. Census day 2023: 1,195 residents and 530 households in the town. For Prades, the census puts flats at 5%. With a median age of 50.3, Prades is older than 84% 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 Prades
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 160 second homes and occasional dwellings in Prades, 23% of its 710 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 96% 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.
A smaller share of households in social housing than 96% of compared French towns: 2.2%
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
Households without a car: 4.8%, below 89% of compared French towns. Against that, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
Prades’s population moved ±0% on 2012, less than in 71% 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 +1%; 2017 to 2023, −1%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Ardèche town +4%.
Prades ranks below 82% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 9%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Prades 50.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 22% in the typical compared French town, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over in Prades.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ardèche 52.7%, France 51.8%.
30% of households are one person living alone, below 77% 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
27% of households are couples with children, against 25% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%. The average household has 2.2 people. Lower than in just over three fifths of compared French towns: 9.3% of households are single parents.
A typical living standard of €25,260 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €25,260 a year: lower than in 57% of compared French towns.
Prades sits above 75% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (37%)
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 10%, Prades is behind 75% of compared French towns on that count. What’s more, fewer households headed by a manager or professional than in 72% of compared French towns: 6.6%. The usual figure: nearly a third 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).
Immigrants: 2.3%, a lower share than 88% 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.
Where 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Prades has 1.5%. By way of comparison, 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.
Fewer single residents than 76% of compared French towns: 22%
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
With married residents at 45%, Prades is ahead of 67% of compared French towns on that count. As a yardstick, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Only 26% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Prades
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
For Prades, the census puts adults with no qualification at 18%. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,195 to 2,582 people), the 14th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Older than Prades: 1 of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prades | 50.3 | 24% | 23% | 2.3% |
| Vals-les-Bains 3,474 · 3.1 mi | 56.1 | 36% | 24% | 5.2% |
| Aubenas 12,416 · 4.1 mi | 47.9 | 29% | 5.3% | 12% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon 2,920 · 4.4 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| Villeneuve-de-Berg 3,031 · 10.9 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 8% | 5.1% |
| Privas 8,538 · 15.3 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.3% | 10% |
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 Prades
What is the population of Prades?
1,195 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (1,200).
How old are Prades’ residents?
The median age is 50.3, older than 84% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Prades?
160, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Prades?
INSEE counts 28 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.3% of residents, and 18 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Prades?
€25,260 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.