A smaller share of households without a car than 87% of compared French towns: 5.1%
Where just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town, Étoile-sur-Rhône has 29%. Nearly one in ten households rent social housing (HLM). Compared with other places, flats are scarce here: 19%, fewer than in 70% of compared French towns. The town had 5,468 residents in 2,350 households at the 2023 census.
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.
Étoile-sur-Rhône grew +9% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 66% 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%.
Below 64% of compared French towns: 20% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Étoile-sur-Rhône 43. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Étoile-sur-Rhône is 43, lower than in 58% of compared French towns. For comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Here, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Drôme 51.8%, France 51.8%.
29% of households are couples with children, more than in 72% 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
There are 2.3 people in the average household. In the typical compared French town, couples with children come to 25%. At 9.6%, single-parent households sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
80% of homes are houses
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
11% of households moved in less than two years ago; 23% have been in their home 30 years or more. There is little gap on empty homes: 6.6%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €27,930 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.
Half of Étoile-sur-Rhône’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €27,930 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 70% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 10.0%.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 11%, a higher share than 61% 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
Put another way, about one in three: 32% of households are headed by a retired person. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%. Households headed by a manual worker: 14%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 4.4% of residents are immigrants in Étoile-sur-Rhône
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: 3.1%, below 63% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Étoile-sur-Rhône, 23% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 68% 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
The figure for married residents is 45% in Étoile-sur-Rhône and 43% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Only 15% of adults out of school have no qualification in Étoile-sur-Rhône
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 graduates of higher education is 36% in Étoile-sur-Rhône and 30% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (5,414 to 5,520 people), the 15th youngest
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 Crégy-lès-Meaux (35.3), the oldest Penmarch (60.8).
5 of 6 neighbors are older than Étoile-sur-Rhône
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Étoile-sur-Rhône | 43 | 20% | 2% | 4.4% |
| Portes-lès-Valence 10,477 · 2.4 mi | 42.5 | 21% | 0.9% | 9.8% |
| Charmes-sur-Rhône 3,143 · 3.2 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 2.4% | 3.6% |
| Beaumont-lès-Valence 4,337 · 3.4 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 0.9% | 3.1% |
| Montmeyran 2,960 · 4.5 mi | 48.1 | 24% | 3.1% | 3% |
| Livron-sur-Drôme 9,329 · 4.6 mi | 43.4 | 20% | 1.4% | 4.8% |
| Allex 2,698 · 5.2 mi | 43.6 | 20% | 3.4% | 2% |
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 Étoile-sur-Rhône
What is the population of Étoile-sur-Rhône?
5,468 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (5,024).
How old are Étoile-sur-Rhône’s residents?
The median age is 43, younger than 58% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Étoile-sur-Rhône?
52, with occasional dwellings: 2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Étoile-sur-Rhône?
INSEE counts 240 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.4% of residents, and 170 foreign nationals (3.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Étoile-sur-Rhône?
€27,930 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 10.0% 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 9, 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.