Older than 93% of compared French towns: half of Rocher is over 54
Set against 10% in the typical compared French town, 4.2% of households are single parents in Rocher. Locally, 3.5% of households have no car. Households headed by a manual worker are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. There were 110 households here at the 2023 Census, home to 306 residents.
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 Rocher
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 48 second homes and occasional dwellings in Rocher, 27% of its 180 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 98% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Rocher’s residents are under 54 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 35% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 22% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Rocher: 27% of homes are second homes, above 94% 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
The share of empty homes tops nearly four fifths of compared French towns: 10%. Here, 5.6% of homes are flats. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for second homes is 2.1% in the typical compared French town.
+9% since 2012, a pace 66% of compared French towns didn’t match
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.
Only 3.6% of residents are 15 to 24 in Rocher
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Rocher 54. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 35%, above 94% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ardèche 52.7%, France 51.8%.
Above 75% of compared French towns: 42% of households are one person living alone
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
There are 2.2 people in the average household. Lower than in 51% of compared French towns: 25% of households are couples with children. Measured more widely, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
€23,820 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 midpoint of living standards here is €23,820 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 74% of compared French towns.
29% of households are headed by a retired person, below 68% 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
Compared with other places, households headed by a manager or professional are scarce here: 8.3%, fewer than in 57% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 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).
Rocher sits below 64% of compared French towns for immigrants (4.9%)
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.
Put another way, about one in 20: 4.9% of residents are foreign nationals. 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.
Below 98% 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
In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married; in Rocher, 34%. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification: 36%, a higher share than 98% 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
28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 30%. As a yardstick, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (306 to 2,582 people), the 7th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Rocher is younger than 2 of its 5 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocher | 54 | 35% | 27% | 4.9% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon 2,920 · 4.9 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| Aubenas 12,416 · 5.9 mi | 47.9 | 29% | 5.3% | 12% |
| Vals-les-Bains 3,474 · 7.2 mi | 56.1 | 36% | 24% | 5.2% |
| Villeneuve-de-Berg 3,031 · 11 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 8% | 5.1% |
| Les Vans 2,662 · 14.1 mi | 58.6 | 39% | 25% | 8.7% |
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 Rocher
What is the population of Rocher?
306 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (281).
How old are Rocher’s residents?
The median age is 54, older than 93% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 35% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Rocher?
48, with occasional dwellings: 27% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Rocher?
INSEE counts 15 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.9% of residents, and 15 foreign nationals (4.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Rocher?
€23,820 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.