A town of second homes: 22% of its homes
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 3.7% of households have no car in Tarentaise. In Tarentaise, 8.6% of homes are flats. The median age locally is 48, higher than in nearly three quarters of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 506, in 220 households.
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 Tarentaise
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 64 second homes and occasional dwellings in Tarentaise, 22% of its 290 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 4.6% single parents with children; 15% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Households in social housing: 2.8%, a lower share than 94% 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
5.5% of households moved in less than two years ago; 28% have been in their home 30 years or more. Households in social housing: 12% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Few places have so few empty homes: 4.1% here, fewer than in 86% of compared French towns.
Faster growth than 75% of compared French towns: Tarentaise changed by +12% since 2012
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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Loire town +3%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 23%, a higher share than 56% 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
■ Tarentaise 48. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24, or about one in nine. On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Tarentaise sits above 91% of compared French towns for couples with children (34%)
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
Average household size: 2.3 people. To put it in context, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. 4.6% of households are single parents, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns. Set against 35% in the typical compared French town, 28% of households are one person living alone in Tarentaise.
A median standard of living of €28,450 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €28,450 a year: higher than in 74% of compared French towns.
Tarentaise ranks above 85% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 18%
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
In Tarentaise, 28% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. The census found that 14% of households are headed by a manual worker locally. The benchmark for households headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town: 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 96% of compared French towns: 1.5%
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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 0.8% of residents are foreign nationals here. Against that, 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.
Above 98% of compared French towns: 54% of residents 15 and over are married
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
A quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, against 21% in Tarentaise. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
46% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, a share 89% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 figure for adults with no qualification is 12% in Tarentaise and 19% in the typical compared French town. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
15th highest median age among 41 French towns of 506 to 2,582
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).
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 1 are older than Tarentaise
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarentaise | 48 | 23% | 22% | 1.5% |
| Saint-Genest-Malifaux 2,921 · 3.7 mi | 46.1 | 25% | 16% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Jean-Bonnefonds 6,563 · 6.1 mi | 45.2 | 24% | 0.9% | 6.6% |
| Bourg-Argental 2,886 · 6.2 mi | 49.3 | 28% | 6.2% | 2.4% |
| La Ricamarie 8,039 · 6.4 mi | 37.5 | 20% | 0.4% | 23% |
| Saint-Étienne 173,136 · 6.5 mi | 37.5 | 21% | 2.4% | 20% |
| Saint-Chamond 35,646 · 7 mi | 43.3 | 23% | 1.1% | 13% |
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 Tarentaise
What is the population of Tarentaise?
506 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% more than in 2012 (451).
How old are Tarentaise’s residents?
The median age is 48, older than 74% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Tarentaise?
64, with occasional dwellings: 22% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Tarentaise?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.5% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Tarentaise?
€28,450 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.