Households headed by a manual worker: 19%, a higher share than 79% of compared French towns
With a median age of 46.7, Val-de-Virieu is older than just over two thirds of compared French towns. This Isère town counted 1,528 residents and 670 households at the 2023 Census. Across Val-de-Virieu, 4.6% of homes are second homes. Against a figure of 35% in the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households in Val-de-Virieu comes in at 38%.
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.
Val-de-Virieu’s population moved −2% on 2012, less than in 79% 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 +7% for the median Isère town, the change came in two steps: −2% from 2012 to 2017, then −1% to 2023.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 25% in Val-de-Virieu, more than in 66% 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
■ Val-de-Virieu 46.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Roughly one in ten: 11% of 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
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Isère 51.3%, France 51.8%.
10% of households are single parents, more than in 57% 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
Average household size: 2.1 people. Couples with children make up 25%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Val-de-Virieu ranks below 68% of compared French towns on households without a car: 7.8%
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
12% of households moved in less than two years ago; 19% have been in their home 30 years or more. Households without a car: 11% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. More households in social housing than in just over three fifths of compared French towns: 15%. Empty homes are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 6.3%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €24,770 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.
The median standard of living in Val-de-Virieu is €24,770 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 63% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 58% of compared French towns: 8.1%
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
Put another way, about one in three: nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person. Typically, 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).
2.1% of residents are foreign nationals, fewer than in 77% 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.
Immigrants: 4.7% here and 6.5% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, foreign nationals come to 4.3%. That is lower than in two thirds of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Isère has 8%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 40%, a lower share than 71% 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 figure for single residents is 23% in Val-de-Virieu and 25% in the typical compared French town. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Below 57% of compared French towns: 28% 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
The share of adults with no qualification stands at 19%. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,528 to 2,582 people: this is the 18th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as old as Val-de-Virieu
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val-de-Virieu | 46.7 | 25% | 4.6% | 4.7% |
| Villages du Lac de Paladru 2,598 · 3 mi | 45.8 | 21% | 15% | 3.5% |
| Saint-André-le-Gaz 2,754 · 4.9 mi | 43.6 | 20% | 3.4% | 5.4% |
| Saint-Clair-de-la-Tour 3,628 · 5.8 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 1.9% | 7.9% |
| La Tour-du-Pin 8,111 · 6 mi | 42 | 22% | 1.7% | 17% |
| Chirens 2,546 · 6.1 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 2.9% | 5.8% |
| Apprieu 3,615 · 6.3 mi | 42.2 | 17% | 2% | 5.1% |
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 Val-de-Virieu
What is the population of Val-de-Virieu?
1,528 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (1,565).
How old are Val-de-Virieu’s residents?
The median age is 46.7, older than 68% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Val-de-Virieu?
34, with occasional dwellings: 4.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Val-de-Virieu?
INSEE counts 72 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.7% of residents, and 33 foreign nationals (2.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Val-de-Virieu?
€24,770 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.