Photo: Toutaitanous · CC BY-SA 3.0Romans-sur-Isère sits above 90% of compared French towns for one-person households (48%)
In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats; in Romans-sur-Isère, 60%. The town is home to 33,464 residents in 16,700 households, by the 2023 Census. Across Romans-sur-Isère, 11% of homes stand empty. Households without a car are more common here than in 78% 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 Romans-sur-Isère
Many people living alone
48% of Romans-sur-Isère’s households are one person: higher than in 90% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 73% of compared French towns grew faster than Romans-sur-Isère: −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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Drôme town +8%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was −2%; from 2017 to 2023, +1%.
In Romans-sur-Isère, 25% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 66% 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
■ Romans-sur-Isère 45. The median compared French town: 44.
On residents aged 15 to 24, 11% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. With a median age of 45, Romans-sur-Isère is older than 57% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Drôme 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Only 19% of households are couples with children in Romans-sur-Isère
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
Households here average 2 people each. For couples with children, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%. At 9.6%, single-parent households sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Romans-sur-Isère ranks above 71% of compared French towns on households in social housing: 18%
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
14% of households arrived within the last two years, while 15% have stayed 30 years or more. In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM). There is little gap on second homes: 1.8%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
At the median, €23,200 a year to live on
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.
Living standards centre on €23,200 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 80% of compared French towns. 21.3% of residents have a standard of living below 60% of France’s median.
Households headed by a retired person make up 36% in Romans-sur-Isère, more than in 70% 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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in Romans-sur-Isère. Meanwhile, households headed by a manual worker are more common here than in two thirds of compared French towns. Against that, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Romans-sur-Isère sits above 81% of compared French towns for immigrants (13%)
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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Romans-sur-Isère comes in at 9.6%. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Romans-sur-Isère, 37% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 83% 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
25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, against 29% in Romans-sur-Isère. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Romans-sur-Isère sits above 79% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (25%)
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 28% in Romans-sur-Isère and 30% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 31,301 to 35,825 people, the 6th 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.
Trappes is the youngest (32.7); Aix-les-Bains the oldest (48.5).
3 of 6 neighbors are older than Romans-sur-Isère
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romans-sur-Isère | 45 | 25% | 1.8% | 13% |
| Bourg-de-Péage 9,921 · 1 mi | 46.4 | 25% | 0.7% | 8.3% |
| Mours-Saint-Eusèbe 3,424 · 1.4 mi | 48.1 | 27% | 1.3% | 4.9% |
| Chatuzange-le-Goubet 6,523 · 2.7 mi | 40.9 | 19% | 1.8% | 3.2% |
| Peyrins 2,613 · 3.2 mi | 47.3 | 23% | 4.1% | 3% |
| Alixan 2,729 · 5 mi | 39.7 | 15% | 2.2% | 3.6% |
| Châteauneuf-sur-Isère 4,281 · 5.5 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 6% | 3.3% |
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 Romans-sur-Isère
What is the population of Romans-sur-Isère?
33,464 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (33,701).
How old are Romans-sur-Isère’s residents?
The median age is 45, older than 57% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Romans-sur-Isère?
340, with occasional dwellings: 1.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Romans-sur-Isère?
INSEE counts 4,310 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 13% of residents, and 3,200 foreign nationals (9.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Romans-sur-Isère?
€23,200 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.3% 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.