Photo: Patrick Despoix · CC BY-SA 3.012% of households are couples with children, below 98% of compared French towns
Flats: 53%, above 78% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 23,460 residents in Rochefort, living in 12,920 households. For Rochefort, the census puts households headed by a retired person at 39%. Higher than in 88% of compared French towns: 23% of households have no car.
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 Rochefort
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 1,860 second homes and occasional dwellings in Rochefort, 11% of its 16,210 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 21% 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
52% of Rochefort’s households are one person: higher than in 96% of compared French towns; 41% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
An older town
Half of Rochefort’s residents are under 50.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.1% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Rochefort had 24,698 residents at the 2012 census and 23,460 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 11% 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
The share of households in social housing tops 72% of compared French towns: 18%. Typically, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. In Rochefort, nearly one in ten homes stand empty.
−5% since 2012: slower than 88% 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 change was −2% from 2012 to 2017 and −3% from 2017 to 2023.
A median age of 50.7: Rochefort is older than 85% 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
■ Rochefort 50.7. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over; in Rochefort, 30%. For Rochefort, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 11%.
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%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
52% of households are one person living alone, a share 96% 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 Charente-Maritime median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households make up 11%, against 10% in the typical compared French town. The average household has 1.8 people. As a reference point, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €23,220 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €23,220 a year: lower than in 80% of compared French towns. 21.2% of residents live below the poverty line INSEE uses.
Only 8% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Rochefort
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
Across Rochefort, 13% of households are headed by a manual worker. Measured more widely, 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).
6.6% of Rochefort’s residents are immigrants
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.
Immigrants make up a share higher than in just over half of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Charente-Maritime has 3.1%. Census figures put foreign nationals at 4.9% in Rochefort.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
34% of residents 15 and over are married, below 93% 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
Here 31% of residents 15 and over are single, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Graduates of higher education make up 27% in Rochefort, less than in 62% 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
Set against 19% in the typical compared French town, 22% of adults out of school have no qualification in Rochefort. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 2nd 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 Loos (33), the oldest Challans (52.5).
Older than Rochefort: 2 of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochefort | 50.7 | 30% | 11% | 6.6% |
| Soubise 3,316 · 2.4 mi | 32.5 | 20% | 3.2% | 1.8% |
| Échillais 3,765 · 2.9 mi | 50.1 | 29% | 2.3% | 2% |
| Tonnay-Charente 8,289 · 3.7 mi | 49 | 27% | 1.6% | 3% |
| Saint-Agnant 2,780 · 5.1 mi | 48.3 | 25% | 3.5% | 1.5% |
| Fouras 4,148 · 6.4 mi | 62.9 | 45% | 45% | 2% |
| Marennes-Hiers-Brouage 6,163 · 10.2 mi | 57 | 37% | 20% | 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 Rochefort
What is the population of Rochefort?
23,460 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (24,698).
How old are Rochefort’s residents?
The median age is 50.7, older than 85% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Rochefort?
1,860, with occasional dwellings: 11% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Rochefort?
INSEE counts 1,560 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.6% of residents, and 1,150 foreign nationals (4.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Rochefort?
€23,220 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.2% 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 8, 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.