Marcolès sits below 99% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (1.7%)
Flats make up 6.4%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Few places have as many empty homes: 11% here, more than in 82% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Marcolès was home to 600 people in 300 households. 3.9% of households rent social housing (HLM).
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 Marcolès
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 94 second homes and occasional dwellings in Marcolès, 21% of its 440 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 99% 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 Marcolès’ residents are under 52.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 93% of compared French towns: 21% of homes are second homes
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
The share of households without a car trails 60% of compared French towns: 8.9%. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%.
Slower growth than 66% of compared French towns: Marcolès changed by +1% since 2012
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 median Cantal town changed −3% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought ±0% and the next six +1%.
A median age of 52.1: Marcolès is older than 89% 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
■ Marcolès 52.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 22% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Marcolès comes in at 31%. Locally, 9.2% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cantal 53.4%, France 51.8%.
A lower share of single-parent households than 79% of compared French towns, at 8.1%
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
A household here holds 2 people on average. Fewer couples with children than in 58% of compared French towns: 24%. To put it in context, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town, against 36% in Marcolès.
Median living standard: €24,280 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.
Living standards centre on €24,280 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 68% of compared French towns.
24% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 95% 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
Set against 32% in the typical compared French town, two in five households are headed by a retired person in Marcolès. By way of comparison, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
2.2% of residents are immigrants, below 90% 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.
The median compared commune in Cantal has 3.9%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 90% of compared French towns. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%. Here, 1.8% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
41% of residents 15 and over are married, below 65% 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
The figure for single residents is 24% in Marcolès and 25% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
27% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 59% of compared French towns
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
Adults with no qualification make up about one in five here (19%). For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
9th highest median age among 41 French towns of 600 to 2,582
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.
Older than Marcolès: 2 of the 5 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcolès | 52.1 | 31% | 21% | 2.2% |
| Ytrac 4,339 · 8.9 mi | 48.3 | 25% | 3.1% | 1.8% |
| Arpajon-sur-Cère 6,361 · 9.5 mi | 49.8 | 26% | 4.4% | 2% |
| Aurillac 26,214 · 10.4 mi | 48.4 | 28% | 4.6% | 6.7% |
| Decazeville 5,020 · 15.9 mi | 53.8 | 35% | 3.1% | 9.4% |
| Aubin 3,444 · 17.6 mi | 56.5 | 35% | 5.7% | 5% |
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 Marcolès
What is the population of Marcolès?
600 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% more than in 2012 (594).
How old are Marcolès’ residents?
The median age is 52.1, older than 89% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Marcolès?
94, with occasional dwellings: 21% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Marcolès?
INSEE counts 13 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.2% of residents, and 11 foreign nationals (1.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Marcolès?
€24,280 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.