47% of homes are second homes, more than in 97% of compared French towns
Households without a car are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 73 people lived in Arpavon, in 34 households. Flats: 6.4% of the total. Set against 14% in the typical compared French town, 29% of households are headed by a manual worker in the town.
Throughout this page, the Drôme 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 Arpavon
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 37 second homes and occasional dwellings in Arpavon, 47% of its 78 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 92% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Arpavon had 91 residents at the 2012 census and 73 in 2023, down 20%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A higher share of empty homes than 73% of compared French towns, at 9%
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. 12% of households moved in less than two years ago; 12% have been in their home 30 years or more. On average, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
−20% since 2012, a pace below 99% 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 those years, the median Drôme town changed +8% and the median compared French town +5%.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 6.8% in Arpavon, less 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
■ Arpavon 49.3. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 49.3, Arpavon is older than four fifths of compared French towns. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. The census found that 21% of residents are 65 or over here.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Drôme 51.8%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 43% in Arpavon, more than in 79% of compared French towns
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 Drôme median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. The share of couples with children stands at 29%.
A lower share of households headed by a retired person than 71% of compared French towns, at 29%
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 manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a retired person come to 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 1.4% in Arpavon, less than in 97% 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.
4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, against 1.4% in Arpavon. Typically, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
27% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 99% 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 24%, Arpavon is behind three fifths of compared French towns on that count. In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married.
Fewer adults with no qualification than 99% of compared French towns: 5.3%
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
33% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, against 30% in the typical compared French town. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Ranked by age, 14th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as young as Arpavon
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Arpavon
What is the population of Arpavon?
73 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% fewer than in 2012 (91).
How old are Arpavon’s residents?
The median age is 49.3, older than 80% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Arpavon?
37, with occasional dwellings: 47% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Arpavon?
INSEE counts 1 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.4% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.