A median age of 31.6: Rouen is younger than 99% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%; Rouen has 12%. Households headed by a retired person make up about one in six here (18%). At 86%, the share of flats is higher than in 97% of compared French towns. Its 66,840 households held 117,662 residents at the 2023 Census.
Throughout this page, the Seine-Maritime 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 Rouen
A young town
Half of Rouen’s residents are under 31.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 14% are under 15 and 14% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
59% of Rouen’s households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 46% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Faster growth than 53% of compared French towns: Rouen changed by +5% 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
The first five years brought −1%; the six to 2023, +7%.
A higher share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 99% of compared French towns, at 23%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Rouen 31.6. The median compared French town: 44.
In Rouen, 14% of residents are 65 or over, beside 22% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Seine-Maritime 52.8%, France 51.8%.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 59% 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 Seine-Maritime median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 1.7 people each. The usual figure: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Nothing unusual on single-parent households: 9.4%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Rouen: 40% of households have no car, above 98% 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
Set against 12% in the typical compared French town, nearly a fifth of households rent social housing (HLM) in Rouen. Elsewhere, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town. About one in ten: that is how common empty homes are in Rouen (9.7%). At 3.7%, the share of second homes is higher than in 68% of compared French towns.
€23,060 a year: the median standard of living
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.
The median standard of living in Rouen is €23,060 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 81% of compared French towns. One measure of hardship: 26.4% of residents are below the poverty line.
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 17% in Rouen, more than in 83% 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
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (9.8%), Rouen is below 78% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, nearly 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).
More immigrants than 85% of compared French towns: 15%
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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Rouen comes in at 13%. Typically, 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.
In Rouen, 23% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 99% 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
In the typical compared French town, 25% of residents 15 and over are single; in Rouen, 46%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Graduates of higher education make up 45% in Rouen, more than in 88% 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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Rouen comes in at 17%. On average, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 87,599 to 156,140 people, the 4th 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 30 in Poitiers to 42 in Perpignan.
No nearby town is as young as Rouen
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rouen | 31.6 | 14% | 3.7% | 15% |
| Bonsecours 6,442 · 1.7 mi | 50 | 32% | 1% | 4.8% |
| Mont-Saint-Aignan 20,165 · 1.8 mi | 36.9 | 22% | 5.2% | 11% |
| Bihorel 8,316 · 1.8 mi | 47.1 | 26% | 1.1% | 6.3% |
| Le Petit-Quevilly 22,208 · 1.9 mi | 36.2 | 16% | 0.9% | 17% |
| Sotteville-lès-Rouen 29,003 · 2 mi | 42.4 | 22% | 1.7% | 11% |
| Bois-Guillaume 14,539 · 2.2 mi | 48.1 | 28% | 1.8% | 4.7% |
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 Rouen
What is the population of Rouen?
117,662 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (111,557).
How old are Rouen’s residents?
The median age is 31.6, younger than 99% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Rouen?
2,830, with occasional dwellings: 3.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Rouen?
INSEE counts 17,350 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 15% of residents, and 15,030 foreign nationals (13%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Rouen?
€23,060 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 26.4% 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.