Photo: Bernard Chenal · CC BY-SA 4.012% of homes are second homes, more than in 90% of compared French towns
With a median age of 49.6, Orbey is older than 81% of compared French towns. The town had 3,429 residents in 1,590 households at the 2023 census. On the census count, 3.7% of households rent social housing (HLM). Just over a fifth of households are couples with children; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%.
Throughout this page, the Haut-Rhin 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 Orbey
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 250 second homes and occasional dwellings in Orbey, 12% of its 2,010 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 54% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Orbey had 3,647 residents at the 2012 census and 3,429 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 91% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 71% of compared French towns: 8.8% of homes stand empty
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
Nearly one in ten households have no car; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. On average, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. The census found that 39% of homes are flats in Orbey.
Orbey changed by −6% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 91% 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 first five years brought −3%; the six to 2023, −3%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Haut-Rhin town +4%.
Orbey: 26% of residents are 65 or over, above 72% 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
■ Orbey 49.6. The median compared French town: 44.
In Orbey, one in ten residents are 15 to 24. As a reference point, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Haut-Rhin 51.5%, France 51.8%.
6.9% of households are single parents, below 91% 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 Haut-Rhin median and the France median
Living alone · share
Where just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town, Orbey has 38%. Typically, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Households average 2 people.
A typical living standard of €27,160 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.
Living standards centre on €27,160 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 62% of compared French towns. 9.0% of residents live below the poverty line INSEE uses.
Households headed by a retired person make up 37% in Orbey, more than in 72% 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
9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, against 8.2% in Orbey. Against that, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. In Orbey, 15% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 3.7% of residents are immigrants in Orbey
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: 2.3%, below three quarters of compared French towns. That is lower than in just over three quarters of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Haut-Rhin has 10%. By way of 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.
Orbey ranks above 57% of compared French towns on single residents: 26%
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
Here, just over two in five residents 15 and over are married. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 67% of compared French towns: 26%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%; Orbey has 22%. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
The 9th oldest of 41 French towns of 3,404 to 3,453 people
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 35.9 in Moult-Chicheboville to 58.7 in Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan.
Of the 6 towns nearest Orbey, 3 are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orbey | 49.6 | 26% | 12% | 3.7% |
| Kaysersberg Vignoble 4,383 · 5.5 mi | 50.4 | 27% | 12% | 4.4% |
| Munster 4,738 · 5.7 mi | 50.5 | 31% | 7.9% | 8.1% |
| Turckheim 4,139 · 6.3 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 9.4% | 7.3% |
| Ingersheim 4,774 · 7.4 mi | 46.2 | 24% | 6.6% | 13% |
| Wintzenheim 8,059 · 7.7 mi | 46 | 26% | 1.8% | 7.7% |
| Fraize 2,843 · 8.2 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 9.6% | 2.2% |
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 Orbey
What is the population of Orbey?
3,429 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (3,647).
How old are Orbey’s residents?
The median age is 49.6, older than 81% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Orbey?
250, with occasional dwellings: 12% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Orbey?
INSEE counts 130 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.7% of residents, and 79 foreign nationals (2.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Orbey?
€27,160 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 9.0% 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.