Araules ranks above 97% of compared French towns on second homes: 43%
The figure for flats is 7.4% in Araules and 30% in the typical compared French town. At 2.5%, the share of households in social housing is lower than in 96% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 620 residents in 270 households. Across Araules, 23% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Throughout this page, the Haute-Loire 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 Araules
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 250 second homes and occasional dwellings in Araules, 43% of its 580 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Araules sits above 79% of compared French towns for empty homes (10%)
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
Households without a car make up 7.4%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. In the last two years, 7.2% of households moved in; at the other end, 28% have stayed 30 years or more.
A change of +2% since 2012 leaves Araules behind 63% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +2% in Haute-Loire.
In Araules, 8.2% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 91% 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
■ Araules 49. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 24% in Araules and 22% in the typical compared French town. Half of the town’s residents are over 49, older than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 110 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Haute-Loire 51.9%, France 51.8%.
A smaller share of single-parent households than 99% of compared French towns: 3.6%
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 Haute-Loire median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.3 people. Few places have so few one-person households: 31% here, fewer than in 71% of compared French towns. Single-parent households: 10% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Here 28% of households are couples with children, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Half above, half below €24,710 a year in standard of living
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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €24,710 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 64% of compared French towns.
Only 5.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Araules
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
By its share of households headed by a retired person (28%), Araules is below 73% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.5% of residents are immigrants, below 97% of compared French towns
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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Araules, 0.5%. The median compared commune in Haute-Loire has 3.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 97% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 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.
Araules: 46% of residents 15 and over are married, above 74% 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 share of single residents stands at 24%. In the median compared French town 43% are married and 6.1% in a PACS; here it is 46% and 8.1%, and 4.6% are widowed.
28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 56% of compared French towns
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
Adults with no qualification make up about one in six here (18%). The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 620 to 2,582 people: this is the 15th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
3 of 6 neighbors are older than Araules
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Araules | 49 | 24% | 43% | 1.5% |
| Yssingeaux 7,415 · 5 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 9.2% | 3.2% |
| Tence 3,111 · 7.1 mi | 51.6 | 29% | 19% | 1.9% |
| Le Chambon-sur-Lignon 2,501 · 7.2 mi | 57.9 | 38% | 36% | 5.9% |
| Saint-Germain-Laprade 3,432 · 9.9 mi | 47.9 | 23% | 3.7% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Maurice-de-Lignon 2,688 · 10.3 mi | 41.2 | 19% | 7.1% | 1.9% |
| Retournac 3,007 · 11.4 mi | 51.1 | 32% | 17% | 3.8% |
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 Araules
What is the population of Araules?
620 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (610).
How old are Araules’ residents?
The median age is 49, older than 79% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Araules?
250, with occasional dwellings: 43% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Araules?
INSEE counts 9 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.5% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (0.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Araules?
€24,710 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 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.