Second homes: 27%, a higher share than 95% of compared French towns
Flats make up 3.2%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Census day 2023: 524 residents and 240 households in Colonzelle. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 6.4%. Empty homes are rarer here than in 94% of compared French towns.
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 Colonzelle
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 95 second homes and occasional dwellings in Colonzelle, 27% of its 350 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 98% 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 Colonzelle’s residents are under 50.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 23% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 4.1% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Only 3.3% of households rent social housing (HLM) in Colonzelle
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
Long tenure is the mark of 25% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 8.7% (under two years). Fewer households without a car than in 84% of compared French towns: 5.5%. Across the comparison, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. One household in 18 has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town.
A +9% change since 2012: Colonzelle grew faster than 68% 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 +15% from 2012 to 2017 and −5% from 2017 to 2023.
Half of Colonzelle is over 50.9, older than 86% 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
■ Colonzelle 50.9. The median compared French town: 44.
About one in four: that is how common residents aged 65 and over are in Colonzelle (23%).
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Drôme 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Above 82% of compared French towns: 12% of households are single parents
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
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, 22% of households are couples with children here. What’s more, at 34%, the share of one-person households is lower than in 56% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.2 people.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €28,590 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.
Half of Colonzelle’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €28,590 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 75% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 23% in Colonzelle, more than in 92% 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
Households headed by a retired person: 27% here and 32% in the typical compared French town. Still, at 15%, the share of households headed by a manual worker is higher than in 54% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Colonzelle ranks below 78% of compared French towns on immigrants: 3.4%
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.
Foreign nationals make up 2.1%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 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.
Colonzelle: 46% of residents 15 and over are married, above 73% 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
Where a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, Colonzelle has 23%. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
Colonzelle ranks below 77% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 14%
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
For Colonzelle, the census puts graduates of higher education at 31%. In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (524 to 2,582 people), the 11th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Colonzelle 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonzelle | 50.9 | 23% | 27% | 3.4% |
| Valréas 9,224 · 4.4 mi | 49.4 | 30% | 4.6% | 14% |
| Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux 8,981 · 7.3 mi | 45.4 | 25% | 6.6% | 8.8% |
| Donzère 6,008 · 10 mi | 39.5 | 17% | 1.1% | 7.5% |
| Pierrelatte 13,756 · 10 mi | 42.5 | 22% | 1.4% | 13% |
| Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes 2,656 · 10.2 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 7.8% | 6% |
| Bollène 14,024 · 10.3 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 2.6% | 14% |
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 Colonzelle
What is the population of Colonzelle?
524 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (479).
How old are Colonzelle’s residents?
The median age is 50.9, older than 86% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Colonzelle?
95, with occasional dwellings: 27% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Colonzelle?
INSEE counts 18 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.4% of residents, and 11 foreign nationals (2.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Colonzelle?
€28,590 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.