13% of homes in Les Arcs are second homes
With a median age of 47.1, Les Arcs is older than 70% of compared French towns. On the census count, 7.1% of households rent social housing (HLM). At the 2023 Census Les Arcs was home to 8,109 people in 3,810 households. Against a figure of 9.4% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional in Les Arcs comes in at 6.8%.
Throughout this page, the Var 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 Arcs
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 600 second homes and occasional dwellings in Les Arcs, 13% of its 4,650 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 71% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Les Arcs ranks below 74% of compared French towns on empty homes: 5%
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
17% of households arrived within the last two years, while 12% have stayed 30 years or more. Empty homes make up 6.7% in the typical compared French town. Flats are more common here than in three fifths of compared French towns. Still, the share of households without a car trails 54% of compared French towns: 9.8%.
A growing town: +16% since 2012, faster than 84% 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 Var town, the change came in two steps: +1% from 2012 to 2017, then +15% to 2023.
Only 9.3% of residents are 15 to 24 in Les Arcs
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Les Arcs 47.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 22% in the typical compared French town, 24% of residents are 65 or over in Les Arcs.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Var 51.4%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of single-parent households than 65% of compared French towns: 11%
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 Var median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.1 people on average. In the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households is 10%. Compared with other places, couples with children are scarce here: 24%, fewer than in 59% of compared French towns. 36% of households are one person living alone (typical compared French town: 35%).
At the median, €25,050 a year to live on
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 Les Arcs’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,050 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 60% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 17.0% of residents.
Households headed by a manual worker: 12%, a lower share than 61% 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
A third of households are headed by a retired person, or about one in three. Households headed by a manual worker make up 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Les Arcs sits above 64% of compared French towns for foreign nationals (6.1%)
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.
By its share of immigrants (8.1%), Les Arcs is above 61% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 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.
Les Arcs sits below 72% of compared French towns for single residents (23%)
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
Against a figure of 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Les Arcs comes in at 45%. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 56% 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
Adults with no qualification account for 19%. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 10th oldest of 41 French towns of 8,007 to 8,219 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 33.9 in Vaujours to 57.1 in Cavalaire-sur-Mer.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 2 are older than Les Arcs
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Arcs | 47.1 | 24% | 13% | 8.1% |
| Trans-en-Provence 6,905 · 2.9 mi | 45.8 | 22% | 3.1% | 6.1% |
| Vidauban 12,608 · 3.8 mi | 44.3 | 21% | 15% | 11% |
| Le Muy 10,118 · 4.1 mi | 45 | 24% | 15% | 15% |
| La Motte 3,071 · 4.1 mi | 49.7 | 27% | 21% | 6.4% |
| Draguignan 40,826 · 5.1 mi | 42.9 | 23% | 2.7% | 10% |
| Lorgues 9,849 · 6.2 mi | 52.9 | 32% | 19% | 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 Les Arcs
What is the population of Les Arcs?
8,109 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 16% more than in 2012 (6,971).
How old are Les Arcs’ residents?
The median age is 47.1, older than 70% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Les Arcs?
600, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Les Arcs?
INSEE counts 660 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.1% of residents, and 490 foreign nationals (6.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Les Arcs?
€25,050 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 17.0% 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.