Photo: Georges-Louis Arlaud (1869-1944) · Public domainA median age of 56.1: Vals-les-Bains is older than 95% of compared French towns
By its share of households headed by a retired person (50%), Vals-les-Bains is above 97% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Vals-les-Bains was home to 3,474 people in 1,880 households. 13% of households are couples with children. Compared with other places, empty homes are common here: 10%, more than in 80% 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 Vals-les-Bains
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 700 second homes and occasional dwellings in Vals-les-Bains, 24% of its 2,880 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 59% 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 Vals-les-Bains’ residents are under 56.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 36% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
52% of Vals-les-Bains’ households are one person: higher than in 95% of compared French towns; 39% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Vals-les-Bains: 24% 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
In Vals-les-Bains, 17% of households have no car, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. For Vals-les-Bains, the census puts flats at 49%. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Vals-les-Bains changed by +2% from 2012 to 2023, behind 62% 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 +5%; 2017 to 2023, −3%.
36% of residents are 65 or over, a share 95% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Vals-les-Bains 56.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 7.7% of residents are 15 to 24 here. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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.
Vals-les-Bains: 52% of households are one person living alone, above 95% 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
The share of single-parent households trails 74% of compared French towns: 8.5%. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town. A household here holds 1.8 people on average.
Median living standard: €22,660 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 midpoint of living standards here is €22,660 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 84% of compared French towns. 22.0% of residents live below the poverty line INSEE uses.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 4.5%, a lower share than 89% 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
Here just over one in ten households are headed by a manual worker, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 14%. Across the comparison, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
5.2% of residents are immigrants, below 61% 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.
About one in 29: that is how common foreign nationals are in Vals-les-Bains (3.5%). Across the 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.
In Vals-les-Bains, 36% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 88% of compared French towns
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
By its share of single residents (28%), Vals-les-Bains is above 67% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 72% of compared French towns, at 24%
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
By its share of adults with no qualification (22%), Vals-les-Bains is above nearly two thirds of compared French towns. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
Among 41 French towns of 3,444 to 3,503 people, the 6th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Chaumes-en-Brie (38.5), the youngest, and Bréhal (60.1), the oldest.
1 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Vals-les-Bains
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vals-les-Bains | 56.1 | 36% | 24% | 5.2% |
| Aubenas 12,416 · 3.5 mi | 47.9 | 29% | 5.3% | 12% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon 2,920 · 4.8 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| Villeneuve-de-Berg 3,031 · 10.1 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 8% | 5.1% |
| Privas 8,538 · 12.4 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.3% | 10% |
| Chomérac 3,183 · 15.2 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 5.1% | 3.9% |
| Le Cheylard 2,803 · 17.1 mi | 56.8 | 38% | 8.3% | 2.2% |
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 Vals-les-Bains
What is the population of Vals-les-Bains?
3,474 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (3,412).
How old are Vals-les-Bains’ residents?
The median age is 56.1, older than 95% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vals-les-Bains?
700, with occasional dwellings: 24% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vals-les-Bains?
INSEE counts 180 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.2% of residents, and 120 foreign nationals (3.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vals-les-Bains?
€22,660 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 22.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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 9, 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.