Photo: Adri08 · CC BY-SA 3.031% of households rent social housing (HLM), a share 93% of compared French towns don’t reach
Residents aged 65 and over: 26%, above 74% of compared French towns. Few places have so few couples with children: 16% here, fewer than in 87% of compared French towns. Rethel is home to 7,444 residents in 3,800 households, by the 2023 Census. The census found that just over a fifth of households have no car locally.
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 Rethel
Social housing
31% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 27% rent privately and 39% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Rethel’s population moved −4% on 2012, less than in 83% 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 those years, the median Ardennes town changed −9% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −2%, then −2% to 2023.
Half of Rethel is over 47, older than 69% 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
■ Rethel 47. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 11%.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households make up 46% in Rethel, more than in 87% 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 Ardennes median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 1.9 people in the average household. As a reference point, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Higher than in 77% of compared French towns: 12% of households are single parents.
Flats make up 50% in Rethel, more than in 75% 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
By its share of empty homes (9.2%), Rethel is above nearly three quarters of compared French towns. 13% of households moved in less than two years ago; 17% have been in their home 30 years or more.
Median standard of living: €22,530 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 Rethel is €22,530 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 85% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 22.0% of the population.
5.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional, below 84% 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
38% of households are headed by a retired person; in the typical compared French town the figure is 32%. At 20%, the share of households headed by a manual worker is higher than in 84% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 9.4% of 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).
A smaller share of immigrants than 86% of compared French towns: 2.6%
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.
In the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals is 4.3%; Rethel has 1.5%. The wider picture: 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.
Only 33% of residents 15 and over are married in Rethel
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
Single residents: 30%, above 78% of compared French towns. For comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of adults with no qualification than 83% of compared French towns, at 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
Graduates of higher education: 22% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (7,341 to 7,545 people), the 17th 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 36 in Gières to 61.5 in Paimpol.
Rethel sits below 1 of its 2 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rethel | 47 | 26% | 1.8% | 2.6% |
| Warmeriville 2,749 · 12.9 mi | 39 | 17% | 1% | 1.9% |
| Vouziers 3,825 · 16.6 mi | 55.5 | 35% | 2.3% | 1.8% |
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 Rethel
What is the population of Rethel?
7,444 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (7,724).
How old are Rethel’s residents?
The median age is 47, older than 69% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Rethel?
77, with occasional dwellings: 1.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Rethel?
INSEE counts 190 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.6% of residents, and 110 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Rethel?
€22,530 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.