Photo: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0La Roche-sur-Yon sits above 97% of compared French towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (16%)
19% of households rent social housing (HLM), against 12% in the typical compared French town. Couples with children are rarer here than in 89% of compared French towns. La Roche-sur-Yon counted 54,849 residents and 28,290 households at the 2023 Census. Here, half of homes are flats.
Throughout this page, the Vendée 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 La Roche-sur-Yon
Many people living alone
49% of La Roche-sur-Yon’s households are one person: higher than in 92% of compared French towns; 36% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
+4% since 2012, a pace below 54% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +9% in Vendée. Here the change came as +3% to 2017, then +1% to 2023.
La Roche-sur-Yon is younger than 61% of compared French towns: a median age of 42.6
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ La Roche-sur-Yon 42.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 23% of the total.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
La Roche-sur-Yon sits above 92% of compared French towns for one-person households (49%)
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 Vendée median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 1.9 people on average. Compared with other places, single-parent households are scarce here: 8.8%, fewer than in 70% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for one-person households is 35% in the typical compared French town.
La Roche-sur-Yon ranks above 71% of compared French towns on households without a car: 16%
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 moved in less than two years ago; 15% have been in their home 30 years or more. For households without a car, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 11%. Few places have as many second homes: 3.7% here, more than in 69% of compared French towns. Empty homes are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 6.6%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €25,090 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.
Half of La Roche-sur-Yon’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,090 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 59% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 15.6% of residents are below the line.
Households headed by a manual worker make up 15% in La Roche-sur-Yon, more than in 58% 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
Here, 31% of households are headed by a retired person. Higher than in 54% of compared French towns: 10% of 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).
La Roche-sur-Yon: 6.7% of residents are foreign nationals, above 68% 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 figure for immigrants is 7.8% in La Roche-sur-Yon and 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share higher than in 59% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Vendée has 2.1%. For foreign nationals, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
34% of residents 15 and over are single, a share 90% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 figure for married residents is 36% in La Roche-sur-Yon and 43% in the typical compared French town. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
More graduates of higher education than 64% of compared French towns: 34%
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
Roughly two in ten: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
Of 41 French towns its size (50,595 to 59,964 people), the 12th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Vaulx-en-Velin (32.5), the oldest Hyères (50.9).
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 5 are older than La Roche-sur-Yon
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Roche-sur-Yon | 42.6 | 23% | 3.7% | 7.8% |
| Mouilleron-le-Captif 5,273 · 3.8 mi | 46 | 23% | 3.8% | 2.2% |
| Aubigny-Les Clouzeaux 7,191 · 4.2 mi | 42.5 | 20% | 1.7% | 2% |
| Venansault 4,757 · 4.6 mi | 44.6 | 20% | 0.7% | 2.3% |
| Nesmy 3,100 · 5.3 mi | 43.2 | 20% | 2.3% | 1.5% |
| Dompierre-sur-Yon 4,625 · 5.4 mi | 42.8 | 16% | 1% | 1.6% |
| La Ferrière 5,454 · 6 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 1.1% | 2.7% |
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 La Roche-sur-Yon
What is the population of La Roche-sur-Yon?
54,849 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (52,808).
How old are La Roche-sur-Yon’s residents?
The median age is 42.6, younger than 61% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Roche-sur-Yon?
1,170, with occasional dwellings: 3.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Roche-sur-Yon?
INSEE counts 4,300 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.8% of residents, and 3,690 foreign nationals (6.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Roche-sur-Yon?
€25,090 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 15.6% 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.