Chastel-Arnaud sits above 99% of compared French towns for couples with children (40%)
With a median age of 49.8, Chastel-Arnaud is older than 83% of compared French towns. The census found that 2.6% of homes stand empty in the town. The town had 48 residents in 20 households at the 2023 census. In the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%; Chastel-Arnaud has 4.5%.
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 Chastel-Arnaud
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 20 second homes and occasional dwellings in Chastel-Arnaud, 48% of its 42 homes: higher than in 97% 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 ↓
A town of families
40% of households are couples with children and 0% single parents with children; 13% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Many graduates
55% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 15% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes make up 48% in Chastel-Arnaud, more than in 97% 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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 2.1% of homes are second homes. Census figures put flats at 2.2% in Chastel-Arnaud.
A +12% change since 2012: Chastel-Arnaud grew faster than 74% 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 same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Drôme town +8%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was −7%; from 2017 to 2023, +20%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 29%, a higher share than 83% 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
■ Chastel-Arnaud 49.8. The median compared French town: 44.
In Chastel-Arnaud, 13% of residents are 15 to 24, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
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: 40%, a higher share than 69% 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
On average, 2.1 people share a household. Against that, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
20% of households are headed by a manager or professional, a share 88% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. Roughly four in ten: two in five households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 6.1% of Chastel-Arnaud’s residents
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.
The median compared commune in Drôme has 6.5%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 54% of compared French towns. Put another way, about one in 16: 6.1% of residents are immigrants. Chastel-Arnaud sits close to the norm on foreign nationals: 4.1%, about the same as 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.
36% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 88% 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
26% of residents 15 and over are single. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
55% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 96% 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
The figure for adults with no qualification is 12% in Chastel-Arnaud and 19% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
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.
Chastel-Arnaud is younger than 2 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chastel-Arnaud | 49.8 | 29% | 48% | 6.1% |
| Aouste-sur-Sye 2,733 · 8.3 mi | 46 | 24% | 3.7% | 4% |
| Crest 8,658 · 10.3 mi | 46.7 | 28% | 3.9% | 6.5% |
| Die 4,844 · 10.8 mi | 50.6 | 29% | 11% | 6.7% |
| Dieulefit 3,289 · 11.4 mi | 58 | 39% | 18% | 7.2% |
| Allex 2,698 · 16 mi | 43.6 | 20% | 3.4% | 2% |
| Montmeyran 2,960 · 16.6 mi | 48.1 | 24% | 3.1% | 3% |
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 Chastel-Arnaud
What is the population of Chastel-Arnaud?
48 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% more than in 2012 (43).
How old are Chastel-Arnaud’s residents?
The median age is 49.8, older than 83% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chastel-Arnaud?
20, with occasional dwellings: 48% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chastel-Arnaud?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.1% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (4.1%). 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 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.