20% of homes stand empty, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
Against a figure of 10% in the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households in Loudes comes in at 2.3%. Locally, 7.7% of homes are second homes. Fewer households in social housing than in 89% of compared French towns: 4.5%. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 944, in 450 households.
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 Loudes
Empty homes
The census found 120 homes empty (20%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A growing town: +7% since 2012, faster than 59% 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: +4% from 2012 to 2017, then +3% to 2023.
Loudes is older than 66% of compared French towns: a median age of 46.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Loudes 46.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Here nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. Locally, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over.
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%.
Loudes: 28% of households are couples with children, above 64% 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 Haute-Loire 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, Loudes has 37%. In the typical compared French town, a quarter of households are couples with children. On average, 2.1 people share a household.
Loudes ranks below 75% of compared French towns on flats: 16%
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
Newcomers of less than two years account for just over one in ten households, residents of 30 years or more for 21%. One in ten households have no car; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%.
A median standard of living of €24,240 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.
At €24,240 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 68% of compared French towns.
Loudes sits below 95% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (3.5%)
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
22% of households are headed by a manual worker, against 14% in the typical compared French town. Across Loudes, 33% of households are headed by a retired person. On average, nearly one in ten 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).
Loudes sits below 99% of compared French towns for immigrants (1.1%)
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 Loudes comes in at 0.3%. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. The median compared commune in Haute-Loire has 3.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 24% of residents 15 and over are single in Loudes
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, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 74% of compared French towns: 23%
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 Loudes, 18% of adults out of school have no qualification. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
The 18th oldest of 41 French towns of 944 to 2,582 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
5 of 6 neighbors are older than Loudes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loudes | 46.4 | 23% | 7.7% | 1.1% |
| Polignac 2,819 · 5.7 mi | 48.5 | 26% | 6.3% | 1.8% |
| Espaly-Saint-Marcel 3,585 · 6.5 mi | 47 | 25% | 2.4% | 6.5% |
| Vals-près-le-Puy 3,395 · 7.5 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 3.1% | 7.7% |
| Chadrac 2,542 · 7.6 mi | 53.1 | 32% | 1.8% | 8.7% |
| Le Puy-en-Velay 18,540 · 7.7 mi | 44.6 | 26% | 5.9% | 12% |
| Brives-Charensac 4,244 · 9 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 2.3% | 5.7% |
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 Loudes
What is the population of Loudes?
944 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (882).
How old are Loudes’ residents?
The median age is 46.4, older than 66% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Loudes?
47, with occasional dwellings: 7.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Loudes?
INSEE counts 10 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.1% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (0.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Loudes?
€24,240 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.