Photo: Unknown photographer (Collection Compagnie Delmas-Vieljeux) · Public domainLa Rochelle ranks below 97% of compared French towns on couples with children: 12%
Flats make up 69%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. 27% of households have no car, a higher share than in 93% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put La Rochelle’s population at 79,851, in 45,290 households. Census figures put households in social housing at 25% here.
Throughout this page, the Charente-Maritime 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 La Rochelle
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 8,030 second homes and occasional dwellings in La Rochelle, 14% of its 56,890 homes: higher than in 91% of compared French towns. 17% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
56% of La Rochelle’s households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 14% of its 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
Car-free households: one in four, where the median compared French town has 11%. The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Recent arrivals (under two years) make up a fifth of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 12%.
+8% since 2012, a pace 62% of compared French towns didn’t match
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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +2%, then +5% to 2023.
17% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 98% 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
■ La Rochelle 43.3. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 43.3, La Rochelle is younger than 56% of compared French towns. Across La Rochelle, a quarter of residents are 65 or over. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente-Maritime 53.1%, France 51.8%.
More one-person households than 99% of compared French towns: 56%
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 Charente-Maritime median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households are about as common here as in the typical compared French town: 9.1%. Across the comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €24,960 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €24,960 a year: lower than in 61% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 19.9% of residents.
La Rochelle ranks below 78% of compared French towns on households headed by a manual worker: 9.8%
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
13% of households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. For La Rochelle, the census puts households headed by a retired person at 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals make up 7.2% in La Rochelle, more than in 70% 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.
Here nearly one in ten residents are immigrants, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 6.5%. That is higher than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Charente-Maritime has 3.1%. The comparison figure for foreign nationals is 4.3% 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.
30% of residents 15 and over are married, below 98% 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
With single residents at 37%, La Rochelle is ahead of 95% of compared French towns on that count. On average, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
40% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, a share 80% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
16% of adults out of school have no qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 19%. In the typical compared French town, graduates of higher education come to 30%.
9th highest median age among 41 French towns of 66,919 to 95,112
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Poitiers is the youngest (30); Cannes the oldest (50.3).
La Rochelle sits below 5 of its 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Rochelle | 43.3 | 25% | 14% | 9.1% |
| Lagord 7,802 · 1.5 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 9.3% | 4.4% |
| L'Houmeau 3,000 · 2.4 mi | 52.2 | 35% | 14% | 4.1% |
| Aytré 9,746 · 2.6 mi | 42.7 | 24% | 4.5% | 4.9% |
| Puilboreau 6,765 · 2.6 mi | 50.1 | 30% | 4.9% | 4.7% |
| Périgny 8,877 · 3 mi | 48.2 | 27% | 2.4% | 4.8% |
| Nieul-sur-Mer 5,811 · 3.2 mi | 55.8 | 34% | 4.1% | 3.6% |
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 La Rochelle
What is the population of La Rochelle?
79,851 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% more than in 2012 (74,123).
How old are La Rochelle’s residents?
The median age is 43.3, younger than 56% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Rochelle?
8,030, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Rochelle?
INSEE counts 7,270 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.1% of residents, and 5,770 foreign nationals (7.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Rochelle?
€24,960 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 19.9% 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.