43% of homes in Marchastel are second homes
1.2% of homes are flats (typical compared French town: 30%). Marchastel counted 131 residents and 64 households at the 2023 Census. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 6.8% in the town. Fewer households in social housing than in 98% of compared French towns: 1.6%.
Throughout this page, the Cantal 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 Marchastel
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 72 second homes and occasional dwellings in Marchastel, 43% of its 170 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Marchastel had 145 residents at the 2012 census and 131 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 34 homes empty (20%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Marchastel’s residents are under 52.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 28% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 3% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More empty homes than 99% of compared French towns: 20%
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
One household in 13 has no car (median compared French town: 11%). The benchmark for empty homes in the typical compared French town: 6.7%. Households without a car: 7.8% of the total.
A change of −10% since 2012 leaves Marchastel behind 97% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved +6%, and from 2017 to 2023 −15%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Cantal town −3%.
Marchastel is older than 90% of compared French towns: a median age of 52.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Marchastel 52.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 22% in the typical compared French town, 28% of residents are 65 or over here.
Women and men · all residents
45% women, 55% men
About 81 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Cantal 53.4%, France 51.8%.
38% of households are one person living alone, a share 64% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 Cantal median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town. There are 2.1 people in the average household. Couples with children: 23% here and 25% in the typical compared French town.
A median of €25,820 a year per consumption unit
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 €25,820 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 51% of compared French towns.
More households headed by a retired person than 79% of compared French towns: 38%
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 15% of households are headed by a manual worker, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 14%. Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The share of households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Marchastel sits below 96% of compared French towns for immigrants (1.5%)
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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 0.8% of residents are foreign nationals in Marchastel. As a reference point, 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.
Married residents make up 48% in Marchastel, more than in 84% 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
22% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Fewer adults with no qualification than 89% of compared French towns: 12%
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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 26% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Marchastel. In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%.
Ranked by age, 8th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
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 Marchastel
What is the population of Marchastel?
131 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (145).
How old are Marchastel’s residents?
The median age is 52.8, older than 90% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Marchastel?
72, with occasional dwellings: 43% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Marchastel?
INSEE counts 2 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.5% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Marchastel?
€25,820 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.