Half of Lachau is over 59.1, older than 98% of compared French towns
The share of households headed by a manual worker is 4.1%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. Lachau had 218 residents in 120 households at the 2023 census. Roughly one in ten: 12% of households are couples with children. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% 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 Lachau
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 97 second homes and occasional dwellings in Lachau, 40% of its 240 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 85% 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 Lachau’s residents are under 59.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 41% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.7% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 40% of its homes
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
9.1% of homes are flats; in the typical compared French town the figure is 30%. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Households without a car make up about one in 12 here (8.2%). Higher than in two thirds of compared French towns: 8.3% of homes stand empty.
From 2012 to 2023, 64% of compared French towns grew faster than Lachau: +1%
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
In two steps, +8% to 2017 and −6% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +8% in Drôme.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 98% of compared French towns, at 41%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lachau 59.1. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.4% in Lachau and 11% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 84 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Drôme 51.8%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A higher share of one-person households than 87% of compared French towns, at 47%
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
Here 8.3% of households are single parents, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 10%. Elsewhere, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households average 1.8 people.
A median standard of living of €18,060 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €18,060 a year: lower than in 99% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 99% of compared French towns: 54%
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
4.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%). The benchmark for households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town: 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 68% of compared French towns: 4.5%
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.
On the census count, 3.6% of residents are foreign nationals. Measured more widely, 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.
A smaller share of single residents than 73% of compared French towns: 23%
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
Locally, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Lachau sits below 77% of compared French towns for 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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, nearly a quarter of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Lachau. The wider picture: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
4th highest median age among 41 French towns of 218 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Lachau
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lachau | 59.1 | 41% | 40% | 4.5% |
| Laragne-Montéglin 3,549 · 11 mi | 54.7 | 33% | 5.2% | 8.7% |
| Sisteron 7,850 · 15.2 mi | 47.6 | 27% | 6.3% | 12% |
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 Lachau
What is the population of Lachau?
218 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% more than in 2012 (215).
How old are Lachau’s residents?
The median age is 59.1, older than 98% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 41% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lachau?
97, with occasional dwellings: 40% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lachau?
INSEE counts 10 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.5% of residents, and 8 foreign nationals (3.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lachau?
€18,060 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.