Ucel is older than 91% of compared French towns: a median age of 53.3
1.8% of households rent social housing (HLM) (typical compared French town: 12%). On couples with children, Ucel sits lower than 81% of compared French towns: 18%. At the 2023 Census, 2,019 people lived in the town, in 970 households. For Ucel, the census puts second homes at 9.1%.
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 Ucel
An older town
Half of Ucel’s residents are under 53.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 140 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 72% of compared French towns grew faster than Ucel: −1%
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
Below 93% of compared French towns: 7.9% of residents are 15 to 24
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ucel 53.3. The median compared French town: 44.
32% of Ucel’s residents are 65 or older, against 27% in the median Ardèche town and 22% in the median compared French town; 16% are under 18. By way of comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
One-person households: 37%, a higher share than 56% 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
Nothing unusual on single-parent households: 9.3%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
In Ucel, 5% of households have no car, fewer than in 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, 30% of homes are flats; in Ucel, 17%. To put it in context, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. Roughly one in ten: just over one in ten homes stand empty.
Median standard of living: €26,030 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.
The median standard of living in Ucel is €26,030 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 51% of compared French towns.
Below 84% of compared French towns: 8.8% 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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 7.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Ucel. Elsewhere, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. Locally, 38% of households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 77% of compared French towns: 3.6% of residents are immigrants
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 77% of compared French towns. On average, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. 1.8% of residents are foreign nationals, or about one in 56.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Ucel sits below 83% of compared French towns for single residents (21%)
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
Few places have as many married residents: 44% here, more than in 56% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Ucel ranks below 65% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 16%
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
On graduates of higher education, Ucel sits higher than 54% of compared French towns: 31%. In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
Ranked by age, 7th oldest 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
1 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Ucel
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ucel | 53.3 | 32% | 9.1% | 3.6% |
| Aubenas 12,416 · 1.5 mi | 47.9 | 29% | 5.3% | 12% |
| Vals-les-Bains 3,474 · 2.3 mi | 56.1 | 36% | 24% | 5.2% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon 2,920 · 3 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| Villeneuve-de-Berg 3,031 · 7.8 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 8% | 5.1% |
| Privas 8,538 · 11.8 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.3% | 10% |
| Chomérac 3,183 · 14.3 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 5.1% | 3.9% |
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 Ucel
What is the population of Ucel?
2,019 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (2,032).
How old are Ucel’s residents?
The median age is 53.3, older than 91% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ucel?
110, with occasional dwellings: 9.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ucel?
INSEE counts 72 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.6% of residents, and 37 foreign nationals (1.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ucel?
€26,030 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.