1.6% of homes are flats, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
2.8% of households have no car (typical compared French town: 11%). Préaux had 708 residents in 310 households at the 2023 census. For Préaux, the census puts households headed by a manager or professional at 1.7%. Compared with other places, empty homes are scarce here: 3.6%, fewer than in 91% 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 Préaux
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 72 second homes and occasional dwellings in Préaux, 18% of its 400 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 100% 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.
18% of homes are second homes, more than in 92% 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
Of all households, 9.6% moved in during the last two years and 25% have stayed three decades or more. Measured more widely, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Fewer households in social housing than in 85% of compared French towns: 5.4%.
Faster growth than 55% of compared French towns: Préaux changed by +6% since 2012
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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +4% in Ardèche. Here the change came as +3% to 2017, then +3% to 2023.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 8% in Préaux, less than in 92% 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
■ Préaux 44.9. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 44.9, Préaux is older than 56% of compared French towns. Against that, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. For Préaux, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 23%.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 113 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardèche 52.7%, France 51.8%.
Below 99% of compared French towns: 3.4% of households are single parents
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
Where just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town, Préaux has 28%. In the typical compared French town, one in ten households are single parents. Couples with children account for 31%.
A median standard of living of €25,740 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 €25,740 a year: lower than in 52% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a retired person than 92% of compared French towns, at 45%
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 21%, Préaux is ahead of 88% of compared French towns on that count. The usual figure: 32% 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).
Préaux ranks below 94% of compared French towns on immigrants: 1.8%
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 figure for foreign nationals is 0.9% in Préaux and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 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.
A lower share of single residents than 77% of compared French towns, at 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%, Préaux is ahead of 63% of compared French towns on that count. Typically, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Préaux: 21% of adults out of school have no qualification, above 61% 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
30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. Across the comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 18th youngest of 41 French towns this size
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).
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 5 are older than Préaux
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Préaux | 44.9 | 23% | 18% | 1.8% |
| Roiffieux 2,743 · 5.6 mi | 50.5 | 27% | 2.8% | 2.3% |
| Vernosc-lès-Annonay 2,725 · 6.4 mi | 45.1 | 21% | 1.1% | 2.6% |
| Annonay 17,274 · 7 mi | 45.6 | 25% | 3.4% | 14% |
| Davézieux 3,205 · 8 mi | 54.7 | 35% | 1.3% | 4.4% |
| Saint-Vallier 4,027 · 8.1 mi | 45.2 | 25% | 2.5% | 13% |
| Tournon-sur-Rhône 11,279 · 10.3 mi | 44.3 | 24% | 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 Préaux
What is the population of Préaux?
708 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (668).
How old are Préaux’s residents?
The median age is 44.9, older than 56% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Préaux?
72, with occasional dwellings: 18% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Préaux?
INSEE counts 13 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.8% of residents, and 6 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Préaux?
€25,740 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.