Older than 99% of compared French towns: half of Les Arques is over 61.4
In the typical compared French town, 25% of households are couples with children; in Les Arques, 15%. This Lot town is home to 214 residents in 120 households, by the 2023 Census. Households headed by a retired person make up about one in two here (45%). At 6.6%, the share of households without a car is lower than in just over three quarters of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Lot 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 Arques
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 66 second homes and occasional dwellings in Les Arques, 34% of its 190 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 ↓
An older town
Half of Les Arques’ residents are under 61.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 42% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Les Arques ranks above 95% of compared French towns on second homes: 34%
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
Flats make up 1.1%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 5.3% of homes stand empty. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Les Arques’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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Lot town −1%. The first five years brought −11%; the six to 2023, +10%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 98% of compared French towns: 42%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Les Arques 61.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 7% of residents are 15 to 24 in Les Arques. Against that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Lot 53.3%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 38%, a higher share than 61% 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 Lot median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 1.8 people. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €23,790 a year per consumption unit
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 €23,790 a year: lower than in 74% of compared French towns.
In Les Arques, 17% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 70% 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
7.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 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 Les Arques, 14% of residents are immigrants, more than in 82% 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.
Just over one in ten residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Lot has 9.5%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 82% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 98% of compared French towns: 54%
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 single residents is 20%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
In Les Arques, 37% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 73% 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, 17% of adults out of school have no qualification here. Typically, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 2nd oldest of 41 French towns of 214 to 2,582 people
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 Les Arques, 1 are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Arques
What is the population of Les Arques?
214 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (219).
How old are Les Arques’ residents?
The median age is 61.4, older than 99% of compared French towns. 7.9% are under 18 and 42% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Les Arques?
66, with occasional dwellings: 34% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Les Arques?
INSEE counts 29 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 14% of residents, and 24 foreign nationals (11%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Les Arques?
€23,790 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.