A town of second homes: 49% of its homes
By its share of households headed by a retired person (46%), Ribes is above 93% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 331, in 170 households. Residents aged 15 to 24 make up about one in 16 here (6.4%). The town has fewer households in social housing than 96% of compared French towns, at 2.4%.
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 Ribes
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 170 second homes and occasional dwellings in Ribes, 49% of its 360 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 91% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Ribes had 272 residents at the 2012 census and 331 in 2023, up 22%: faster growth than in 92% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Ribes’ residents are under 51.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Below 89% of compared French towns: 8.8% of homes are flats
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
14% of households arrived within the last two years, while 24% have stayed 30 years or more. Fewer empty homes than in 84% of compared French towns: 4.3%. In Ribes, 6.1% of households have no car, beside 11% in the typical compared French town.
A growing town: +22% since 2012, faster than 92% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Ardèche town +4%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +8%; from 2017 to 2023, +12%.
Ribes is older than 88% of compared French towns: a median age of 51.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ribes 51.8. The median compared French town: 44.
32% of residents are 65 or over; in the typical compared French town the figure is 22%.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardèche 52.7%, France 51.8%.
Ribes ranks above 68% of compared French towns on one-person households: 40%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households is 10%; Ribes has 12%. The wider picture: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Each household has 2 people on average. 24% of households are couples with children, a lower share than in 57% of compared French towns.
At the median, €22,170 a year to live on
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 €22,170 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 88% of compared French towns.
Below 94% of compared French towns: 6% of households are headed by a manual worker
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
Locally, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional. Set beside that, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Ribes sits below 67% of compared French towns for immigrants (4.6%)
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 median compared commune in Ardèche has 9.3%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 67% of compared French towns. For Ribes, the census puts foreign nationals at 4%. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A higher share of married residents than 73% of compared French towns, at 46%
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
Here, 26% of residents 15 and over are single. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
More graduates of higher education than 56% of compared French towns: 32%
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
Roughly two in ten: 18% of adults out of school have no qualification. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
9th highest median age among 41 French towns of 331 to 2,582
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).
3 of 6 neighbors are older than Ribes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ribes | 51.8 | 32% | 49% | 4.6% |
| Les Vans 2,662 · 7.2 mi | 58.6 | 39% | 25% | 8.7% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon 2,920 · 11.2 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| Aubenas 12,416 · 12.5 mi | 47.9 | 29% | 5.3% | 12% |
| Vals-les-Bains 3,474 · 14.1 mi | 56.1 | 36% | 24% | 5.2% |
| Bessèges 2,606 · 14.9 mi | 59.4 | 40% | 9.6% | 4.7% |
| Villeneuve-de-Berg 3,031 · 15.5 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 8% | 5.1% |
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 Ribes
What is the population of Ribes?
331 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 22% more than in 2012 (272).
How old are Ribes’ residents?
The median age is 51.8, older than 88% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ribes?
170, with occasional dwellings: 49% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ribes?
INSEE counts 15 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.6% of residents, and 13 foreign nationals (4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ribes?
€22,170 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 October 30, 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.