Photo: Wikipedro · CC BY-SA 4.0Les Rousses: 48% of homes are second homes, above 97% of compared French towns
30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, against 75% in Les Rousses. Census figures put households without a car at 4.8% in the town. At 23%, the share of households headed by a manual worker is higher than in 93% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 3,740 residents in 1,830 households.
Throughout this page, the Jura 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 Les Rousses
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 1,850 second homes and occasional dwellings in Les Rousses, 48% of its 3,850 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 11% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Les Rousses had 3,133 residents at the 2012 census and 3,740 in 2023, up 19%: faster growth than in 89% of compared French towns. Population ↓
A young town
Half of Les Rousses’ residents are under 38.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 17% are under 15 and 14% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Empty homes make up 4.2% in Les Rousses, less than in 85% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of households in social housing is 12%; Les Rousses has 9.4%. For empty homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.7%. 15% of households arrived within the last two years, while 13% have stayed 30 years or more.
Les Rousses’s population changed by +19% since 2012, more than in 89% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +16%, then +3% to 2023. Over those years, the median Jura town changed −4% and the median compared French town +5%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 14%, a lower share than 94% 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
■ Les Rousses 38.8. The median compared French town: 44.
10% of residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. The median age in Les Rousses is 38.8, lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Jura 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Les Rousses: 41% of households are one person living alone, above 72% 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 Jura median and the France median
Living alone · share
In the typical compared French town, a quarter of households are couples with children; in Les Rousses, 21%. Roughly one in ten: just over one in ten households are single parents. Measured more widely, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Median living standard: €42,320 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.
Half of residents live in households above €42,320 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 99% of compared French towns. The poverty rate is 7.0%.
Households headed by a retired person make up 19% in Les Rousses, less than in 96% 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 manager or professional at 12%, Les Rousses is ahead of 62% of compared French towns on that count. Measured more widely, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A higher share of foreign nationals than 63% of compared French towns, at 5.9%
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.
7.6% of residents are immigrants, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
Les Rousses ranks below 80% of compared French towns on married residents: 38%
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
27% of residents 15 and over are single (typical compared French town: 25%). In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
12% of adults out of school have no qualification, below 87% 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
Here 38% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%.
Ranked by age, 4th youngest of 41 French towns this size
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 Lourches (35.1), the youngest, and Cabourg (63.9), the oldest.
Les Rousses sits below 3 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Rousses | 38.8 | 14% | 48% | 7.6% |
| Hauts de Bienne 5,032 · 3.3 mi | 39.5 | 17% | 6.8% | 20% |
| Divonne-les-Bains 10,464 · 9.4 mi | 41 | 17% | 21% | 23% |
| Gex 13,627 · 10.5 mi | 35 | 10% | 6.2% | 23% |
| Cessy 5,832 · 11.4 mi | 36.9 | 10% | 4.4% | 22% |
| Saint-Claude 8,386 · 11.7 mi | 48.5 | 26% | 5.1% | 20% |
| Ségny 2,941 · 13.1 mi | 34.8 | 11% | 4.7% | 30% |
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 Les Rousses
What is the population of Les Rousses?
3,740 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 19% more than in 2012 (3,133).
How old are Les Rousses’ residents?
The median age is 38.8, younger than 85% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Les Rousses?
1,850, with occasional dwellings: 48% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Les Rousses?
INSEE counts 280 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.6% of residents, and 220 foreign nationals (5.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Les Rousses?
€42,320 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 7.0% 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.