Roches ranks below 99% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 5.4%
3.3% of households rent social housing (HLM); in the typical compared French town the figure is 12%. For Roches, the census puts households headed by a manager or professional at 2.9%. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 46%, more than in 86% of compared French towns. This Creuse town is home to 371 residents in 180 households, by the 2023 Census.
Throughout this page, the Creuse 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 Roches
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 82 second homes and occasional dwellings in Roches, 26% of its 310 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 100% 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 Roches’ residents are under 52 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 49 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Roches, 26% of homes are second homes, more than in 94% of compared French towns
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 nine has no car (median compared French town: 11%). Put another way, about one in 34: 2.9% of homes are flats. On empty homes, Roches sits higher than 96% of compared French towns: 16%. Typically, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Roches’s population moved ±0% on 2012, less than in 71% 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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Creuse town −5%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought −2%; 2017 to 2023, +2%.
Half of Roches is over 52, 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
■ Roches 52. The median compared French town: 44.
A third of Roches’ residents are 65 or older, against 32% in the median Creuse town and 22% in the median compared French town; 18% are under 18.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Creuse 52.8%, France 51.8%.
Roches ranks below 73% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 8.6%
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 Creuse median and the France median
Living alone · share
On average, 2 people share a household. In the typical compared French town, 10% of households are single parents. Couples with children are more common here than in 52% of compared French towns.
Standard of living at the median: €23,460 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €23,460 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 77% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person: 51%, a higher share than 98% 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
2.9% of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. Elsewhere, 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).
Below 85% of compared French towns: 2.7% of 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.
Where 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Roches has 3%. Across the comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Creuse has 7.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Roches ranks below 86% of compared French towns on married residents: 36%
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
Nearly a quarter of residents 15 and over are single (typical compared French town: 25%). In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 97% of compared French towns, at 15%
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
Just over a quarter of adults out of school have no qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 19%. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (371 to 2,582 people), the 9th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Roches is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roches | 52 | 33% | 26% | 2.7% |
| Guéret 12,955 · 9.4 mi | 46.4 | 26% | 4.5% | 8.6% |
| Sainte-Feyre 2,566 · 9.7 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 5% | 2.4% |
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 Roches
What is the population of Roches?
371 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (372).
How old are Roches’ residents?
The median age is 52, older than 89% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Roches?
82, with occasional dwellings: 26% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Roches?
INSEE counts 10 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.7% of residents, and 11 foreign nationals (3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Roches?
€23,460 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.