Half of Rostrenen is over 54.6, older than 93% of compared French towns
13% of households are couples with children (typical compared French town: 25%). The 2023 Census counted 3,282 residents in 1,650 households. For Rostrenen, the census puts households headed by a manager or professional at 4.3%. Second homes are more common here than in 86% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Côtes-d'Armor 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 Rostrenen
An older town
Half of Rostrenen’s residents are under 54.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Rostrenen’s households are one person: higher than in 93% of compared French towns; 33% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 250 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
+1% since 2012: slower than 67% 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 change was −6%; from 2017 to 2023, +7%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Côtes-d'Armor town +3%.
34% of residents are 65 or over, a share 93% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Rostrenen 54.6. The median compared French town: 44.
One in ten residents are 15 to 24; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Côtes-d'Armor 52.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Rostrenen sits above 93% of compared French towns for one-person households (50%)
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 Côtes-d'Armor median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 1.8 people on average. In the typical compared French town, 35% of households are one person living alone. Single-parent households are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 9.7%.
Rostrenen ranks above 89% of compared French towns on empty homes: 12%
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 flats (16%), Rostrenen is below 75% of compared French towns. On the census count, 8% of households rent social housing (HLM). More households without a car than in just over three quarters of compared French towns: 17%. Empty homes: 6.7% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
The median resident lives on €22,940 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.
Living standards centre on €22,940 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 82% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 21.0% of residents.
More households headed by a retired person than 90% of compared French towns: 43%
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
Households headed by a manual worker: 16% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
5.9% of residents are foreign nationals, more than in 63% 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.
Immigrants make up a share higher than in 52% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Côtes-d'Armor has 2.7%. As a reference point, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. The census found that 6.8% of residents are immigrants in Rostrenen.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 84% of compared French towns: 37% of residents 15 and over are married
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
A quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, against 29% in Rostrenen. The benchmark for married residents in the typical compared French town: 43%.
Rostrenen sits below 79% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (22%)
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
In Rostrenen, 24% of adults out of school have no qualification, beside 19% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 5th oldest of 41 French towns of 3,243 to 3,321 people
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 Lespinasse (36.5), the oldest Carantec (60.5).
Rostrenen and its 5 nearest towns: 2 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rostrenen | 54.6 | 34% | 8.3% | 6.8% |
| Carhaix-Plouguer 7,412 · 12 mi | 52.2 | 32% | 3.9% | 6% |
| Cléguérec 2,885 · 13.9 mi | 50.8 | 27% | 8.8% | 4% |
| Gourin 3,960 · 14.8 mi | 55.3 | 33% | 7.6% | 4.3% |
| Guerlédan 2,532 · 15.8 mi | 51.5 | 30% | 9.4% | 6.6% |
| Le Faouët 2,814 · 15.9 mi | 56.1 | 37% | 8.2% | 3.8% |
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 Rostrenen
What is the population of Rostrenen?
3,282 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (3,256).
How old are Rostrenen’s residents?
The median age is 54.6, older than 93% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Rostrenen?
170, with occasional dwellings: 8.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Rostrenen?
INSEE counts 220 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.8% of residents, and 190 foreign nationals (5.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Rostrenen?
€22,940 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.0% 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 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.