Photo: Yzergues · CC BY-SA 4.0More empty homes than 89% of compared French towns: 12%
In the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households is 35%; Espaly-Saint-Marcel has 42%. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 25%. Households headed by a retired person are more common here than in 64% of compared French towns. Its 1,740 households held 3,585 residents at the 2023 Census.
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 Espaly-Saint-Marcel
Empty homes
The census found 250 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Espaly-Saint-Marcel changed by +2% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 61% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +2% for the median Haute-Loire town, the change came in two steps: ±0% from 2012 to 2017, then +2% to 2023.
Older than 69% of compared French towns: half of Espaly-Saint-Marcel is over 47
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Espaly-Saint-Marcel 47. The median compared French town: 44.
Little separates the share of residents aged 15 to 24 here, 11%, from the figure in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Haute-Loire 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Fewer couples with children than 67% of compared French towns: 22%
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
Households average 2 people. Elsewhere, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households: 10%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town.
Espaly-Saint-Marcel: 39% of homes are flats, above 62% of compared French towns
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
13% of households have no car (typical compared French town: 11%). For flats, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%. Locally, 2.4% of homes are second homes.
Half above, half below €25,730 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.
Half of residents live in households above €25,730 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 52% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 16.0% of residents.
A lower share of households headed by a manual worker than 72% of compared French towns, at 11%
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
Census figures put households headed by a manager or professional at 8.9% in Espaly-Saint-Marcel. To put it in context, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Espaly-Saint-Marcel: 6.5% of residents are immigrants
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.
That is higher than in half of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Haute-Loire has 3.8%. Census figures put foreign nationals at 4.8% in Espaly-Saint-Marcel.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Espaly-Saint-Marcel, 38% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 77% 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
Single residents: 27% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Above 66% of compared French towns: 35% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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 account for 18%. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 3,556 to 3,616 people: this is the 16th 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.
Neuilly-Crimolois is the youngest (37.2); Montrichard Val de Cher the oldest (57.5).
5 of 6 neighbors are older than Espaly-Saint-Marcel
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espaly-Saint-Marcel | 47 | 25% | 2.4% | 6.5% |
| Le Puy-en-Velay 18,540 · 1.3 mi | 44.6 | 26% | 5.9% | 12% |
| Vals-près-le-Puy 3,395 · 1.3 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 3.1% | 7.7% |
| Polignac 2,819 · 1.7 mi | 48.5 | 26% | 6.3% | 1.8% |
| Chadrac 2,542 · 1.9 mi | 53.1 | 32% | 1.8% | 8.7% |
| Brives-Charensac 4,244 · 2.8 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 2.3% | 5.7% |
| Coubon 3,140 · 3.9 mi | 49.1 | 26% | 4.5% | 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 Espaly-Saint-Marcel
What is the population of Espaly-Saint-Marcel?
3,585 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (3,511).
How old are Espaly-Saint-Marcel’s residents?
The median age is 47, older than 69% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Espaly-Saint-Marcel?
48, with occasional dwellings: 2.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Espaly-Saint-Marcel?
INSEE counts 230 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.5% of residents, and 170 foreign nationals (4.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Espaly-Saint-Marcel?
€25,730 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.0% 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.