A town of second homes: 30% of its homes
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Lavars counted 172 residents and 88 households at the 2023 Census. About one in 16: that is how common residents aged 15 to 24 are in Lavars (6.4%). The share of flats trails 89% of compared French towns: 8.8%.
Throughout this page, the Isère 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 Lavars
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 41 second homes and occasional dwellings in Lavars, 30% of its 140 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
47% of Lavars’ households are one person: higher than in 89% of compared French towns; 35% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Below 91% of compared French towns: 4.5% of households have no car
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
Empty homes: 5.8%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town. On average, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town. 10% of households moved in less than two years ago; 22% have been in their home 30 years or more.
+15% since 2012, a pace 81% of compared French towns didn’t match
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 years 2012 to 2017 brought −1%; 2017 to 2023, +16%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Isère town +7%.
Older than 79% of compared French towns: half of Lavars is over 49
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lavars 49. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 22% in the typical compared French town, 28% of residents are 65 or over here.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Isère 51.3%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 47% in Lavars, more than in 89% 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 Isère median and the France median
Living alone · share
Where a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, Lavars has 24%. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Typically, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
A median standard of living of €25,410 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 €25,410 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 55% of compared French towns.
In Lavars, 5.9% of households are headed by a manual worker, fewer than in 94% 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
With households headed by a retired person at 35%, Lavars is ahead of 65% of compared French towns on that count. On households headed by a manager or professional, Lavars sits higher than 84% of compared French towns: 18%. Typically, 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).
In Lavars, 3.5% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 78% 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.
The share of foreign nationals trails 83% of compared French towns: 1.7%. Typically, 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.
Lavars: 28% of residents 15 and over are single, above 69% 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 married residents is 45%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 81% 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
Compared with 19% in the typical compared French town, 16% of adults out of school have no qualification here. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (172 to 2,582 people), 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Of the 6 towns nearest Lavars, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lavars | 49 | 28% | 30% | 3.5% |
| La Mure 4,963 · 6.5 mi | 49.5 | 30% | 5.1% | 8.2% |
| Saint-Georges-de-Commiers 2,699 · 12.6 mi | 43 | 21% | 1.5% | 4% |
| Vif 8,530 · 13.5 mi | 44.2 | 20% | 1.5% | 5.1% |
| Champ-sur-Drac 3,335 · 15.6 mi | 44.9 | 23% | 1.2% | 6.1% |
| Vizille 7,292 · 15.9 mi | 44 | 23% | 2.4% | 8% |
| Villard-de-Lans 4,328 · 16 mi | 51 | 28% | 64% | 3.7% |
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 Lavars
What is the population of Lavars?
172 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 15% more than in 2012 (150).
How old are Lavars’ residents?
The median age is 49, older than 79% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lavars?
41, with occasional dwellings: 30% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lavars?
INSEE counts 6 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.5% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lavars?
€25,410 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 4, 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.