Photo: Verod1 · CC BY-SA 4.0Rive-de-Gier sits above 94% of compared French towns for households in social housing (32%)
66% of homes are flats, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Census day 2023: 15,242 residents and 6,390 households in Rive-de-Gier. On the census count, 6.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional. Couples with children are more common here than in 77% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the 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 Rive-de-Gier
Immigrants
INSEE counts 2,800 immigrants in Rive-de-Gier (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 18% of residents, against 5.8% for the median compared commune in Loire. 15% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Social housing
32% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 22% rent privately and 44% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: +4% since 2012, behind 53% 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 +3% for the median Loire town, the change came in two steps: +4% from 2012 to 2017, then ±0% to 2023.
Half of Rive-de-Gier is under 39.8, younger than 80% 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
■ Rive-de-Gier 39.8. The median compared French town: 44.
19% of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are common here: 12%, more than in 78% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Above 67% of compared French towns: 39% of households are one person living alone
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 Loire median and the France median
Living alone · share
The typical household size is 2.4 people. In the typical compared French town, just over a third of households are one person living alone. Roughly one in ten: 10% of households are single parents.
Rive-de-Gier ranks above 85% of compared French towns on households without a car: 21%
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
0.9% of homes are second homes; in the typical compared French town the figure is 2.1%. For Rive-de-Gier, the census puts empty homes at 10%. In the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%.
Median living standard: €21,750 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 Rive-de-Gier’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €21,750 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 90% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 25.0%.
Above 88% of compared French towns: 21% of households are headed by a manual worker
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
Households headed by a retired person account for 31%. For comparison, 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 Rive-de-Gier, 18% of residents are immigrants, more than in 91% 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.
4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, against 15% in Rive-de-Gier. As a yardstick, 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.
28% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 68% 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
For Rive-de-Gier, the census puts married residents at 44%. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Rive-de-Gier sits above 89% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (29%)
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 graduates of higher education is 20%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (14,788 to 15,726 people), the 13th youngest
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 32.8 in Montévrain to 54.3 in Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
Every neighbor is older than Rive-de-Gier
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rive-de-Gier | 39.8 | 19% | 0.9% | 18% |
| Saint-Martin-la-Plaine 3,764 · 1.3 mi | 45.2 | 21% | 1.2% | 4.8% |
| Genilac 3,839 · 1.6 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 1.6% | 4.5% |
| Lorette 4,983 · 1.8 mi | 42.2 | 24% | 0.4% | 11% |
| La Grand-Croix 4,947 · 2.9 mi | 40.8 | 20% | 0.6% | 8.3% |
| Saint-Paul-en-Jarez 4,699 · 3.5 mi | 42.6 | 22% | 1.5% | 4.5% |
| L'Horme 4,806 · 4.3 mi | 42.4 | 23% | 0.5% | 10% |
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 Rive-de-Gier
What is the population of Rive-de-Gier?
15,242 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (14,633).
How old are Rive-de-Gier’s residents?
The median age is 39.8, younger than 80% of compared French towns. 26% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Rive-de-Gier?
63, with occasional dwellings: 0.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Rive-de-Gier?
INSEE counts 2,790 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 18% of residents, and 2,250 foreign nationals (15%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Rive-de-Gier?
€21,750 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 25.0% 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 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.