Échalas: 37% of households are couples with children, above 97% of compared French towns
The share of households in social housing is 1.9%, against 12% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census Échalas was home to 1,994 people in 760 households. Residents aged 65 and over: 18% of the total. Households without a car are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Rhône 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 Échalas
A town of families
37% of households are couples with children and 6.1% single parents with children; 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing fast
Échalas had 1,597 residents at the 2012 census and 1,994 in 2023, up 25%: faster growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Échalas has grown +25%, faster than 94% 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 +10% for the median Rhône town, the change came in two steps: +13% from 2012 to 2017, then +11% to 2023.
Younger than 84% of compared French towns: half of Échalas is under 39.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Échalas 39.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.8%, below just over two thirds of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Rhône 51.5%, France 51.8%.
Only 22% of households are one person living alone in Échalas
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 Rhône median and the France median
Living alone · share
One in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town, against 6.1% in Échalas. By way of comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. The average household has 2.6 people.
Échalas ranks below 89% of compared French towns on empty homes: 3.9%
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 Échalas, 12% of homes are flats, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. Fewer second homes than in 79% of compared French towns: 1%. The wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €30,340 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 €30,340 a year: higher than in 86% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a retired person than 74% of compared French towns: 28%
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 manual worker: 16% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. On the census count, just over one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.1% of residents are foreign nationals, below 92% 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.
The median compared commune in Rhône has 8.2%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in four fifths of compared French towns. About one in 32: that is how common immigrants are in Échalas (3.1%). For comparison, 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.
Fewer single residents than 95% of compared French towns: 19%
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
Where 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, Échalas has 49%. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 74% of compared French towns, at 15%
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
37% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 30%. Set beside that, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 2nd youngest of 41 French towns of 1,994 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Around Échalas, 3 of 6 towns have a higher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Échalas | 39.1 | 18% | 1% | 3.1% |
| Beauvallon 4,260 · 2.7 mi | 41 | 17% | 0.9% | 3.5% |
| Givors 21,379 · 3.3 mi | 37.6 | 17% | 0.9% | 24% |
| Loire-sur-Rhône 2,746 · 3.7 mi | 41.7 | 19% | 1% | 4.8% |
| Chasse-sur-Rhône 6,588 · 4.3 mi | 36.3 | 16% | 0.8% | 14% |
| Grigny-sur-Rhône 10,030 · 4.7 mi | 36.8 | 15% | 0.6% | 13% |
| Montagny 3,218 · 4.9 mi | 41.3 | 20% | 1.1% | 5.6% |
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 Échalas
What is the population of Échalas?
1,994 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 25% more than in 2012 (1,597).
How old are Échalas’ residents?
The median age is 39.1, younger than 84% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Échalas?
8, with occasional dwellings: 1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Échalas?
INSEE counts 63 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.1% of residents, and 23 foreign nationals (1.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Échalas?
€30,340 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.