L'Échelle sits above 93% of compared French towns for second homes (21%)
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 129 residents in L'Échelle, living in 58 households. Locally, 14% of residents are 15 to 24. Just over two in five households are one person living alone; in the typical compared French town the figure is 35%.
Throughout this page, the Ardennes 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 L'Échelle
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 16 second homes and occasional dwellings in L'Échelle, 21% of its 78 homes: higher than in 93% 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.
L'Échelle sits below 73% of compared French towns for empty homes (5.1%)
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
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Empty homes: 6.7% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Here, 12% of households have no car.
A change of ±0% since 2012 leaves L'Échelle behind 70% 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 +6%; 2017 to 2023, −6%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Ardennes town −9%.
A median age of 48.4: L'Échelle is older than 76% 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
■ L'Échelle 48.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 22% in the typical compared French town, 20% of residents are 65 or over in L'Échelle.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Only 8.3% of households are single parents in L'Échelle
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 Ardennes median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2.2 people in the average household. As a reference point, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. At 25%, the share of couples with children is in line with the figure in the typical compared French town.
€25,530 a year: the median standard of living
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 €25,530 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 54% of compared French towns.
33% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 99% 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
Against a figure of 32% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person in L'Échelle comes in at 33%. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
L'Échelle sits below 74% of compared French towns for immigrants (3.9%)
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.
The share of foreign nationals is 3.1%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For 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.
A lower share of married residents than 75% of compared French towns, at 39%
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
29% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
More adults with no qualification than 84% of compared French towns: 27%
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
In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in L'Échelle, 24%. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41 French towns of 129 to 2,582 people: this is the 15th 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 Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
2 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than L'Échelle
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L'Échelle | 48.4 | 20% | 21% | 3.9% |
| Charleville-Mézières 45,560 · 11 mi | 43.4 | 23% | 2.3% | 11% |
| Revin 5,716 · 12 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 3% | 12% |
| Nouzonville 5,523 · 12.2 mi | 46 | 23% | 0.9% | 6.2% |
| Villers-Semeuse 3,615 · 12.6 mi | 49.6 | 27% | 0.5% | 5.8% |
| Bogny-sur-Meuse 4,889 · 13.1 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 1.5% | 4.3% |
| Vivier-au-Court 2,732 · 16.2 mi | 42.4 | 20% | 0.4% | 11% |
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 L'Échelle
What is the population of L'Échelle?
129 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (129).
How old are L'Échelle’s residents?
The median age is 48.4, older than 76% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in L'Échelle?
16, with occasional dwellings: 21% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in L'Échelle?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.9% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (3.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in L'Échelle?
€25,530 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 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.