Commune · 04301

OvalleOvalle

Compare Ovalle with another place
Census population
118,696
51st of 346
Population density
33.5/km²
159th of 346
Average years of schooling
9.6 yrs
126th of 346
Foreign-born share
4.9%
105th of 346

Where it stands out

Indicators with the most extreme rank among territories at its level.
People within 30 km of any health facility1st of 345 · Chile 100.0%100.0%
People within 15 km of a school in operation1st of 345 · Chile 99.9%100.0%
People within 30 km of a school in operation1st of 345 · Chile 100.0%100.0%
Arrived since 202027th of 345 · Chile 34.4%52.3%
Households lacking health access33rd of 335 · Chile 6.0%10.8%
Came from another commune of the same region295th of 335 · Chile 23.9%9.3%
Loading
Population density by commune
Trend 2005–2024

Average monthly pay

01020304020052015202432.0 UF21.2 UF
01020304020052015202432.0 UF21.2 UF
In UF, Chile's inflation-indexed unit, so the twenty years are comparable without deflating. Grey is the country.

Where the people here are from

Casen 2024 · 1,405 surveyed
Lives in the commune where they were born
72.5%
55th of 335
Came from another commune of the same region
9.3%
295th of 335
Came from another region
14.8%
184th of 335
Net internal migration
-38,430
-30.9 per 100 residents
Ovallethis commune · 158,547another region18,359 peopleelsewhere in the region11,588 peopleabroad4,279 peopleanother region44,474 peopleelsewhere in the region23,903 peopleOvallethis commune · 124,396
Ovallethis commune · 158,547another region18,359 peopleelsewhere in th…11,588 peopleabroad4,279 peopleanother region44,474 peopleelsewhere in th…23,903 peopleOvallethis commune · 124,396

Formal employment, 2005–2024

2005–2024 · Source SII
200520241Agriculture and fishing1Agriculture and fishing5Public administration2Public administration▲32Retail and wholesale3Retail and wholesale▼14Construction4Construction11Transport5Transport▲68Education6Education▲212Administrative services7Administrative services▲510Accommodation and food8Accommodation and food▲27Manufacturing9Manufacturing▼26Other services10Other services▼49Mining11Mining▼213Professional services12Professional services▲13Health13Health▼10
2005202411Agriculture and fishing52Public administration▲323Retail and wholesale▼144Construction115Transport▲686Education▲2127Administrative services▲5108Accommodation and food▲279Manufacturing▼2610Other services▼4911Mining▼21312Professional services▲1313Health▼10

The ten branches that employ most of Ovalle

Ranked by headcount in the latest year; the line is each branch's own twenty-year shape, on its own scale.

Dependent workers, projected

Prophet, fitted on the twenty observed years. A projection is not a figure of PuroChile.

10 k20 k30 k40 k50 kprojection →38 k2029 · central2005201520242029
10 k20 k30 k40 k50 kprojection →38 k2029 · central2005201520242029
observed 2005–2024central projection80% interval2.0% a year observed · 3.7% projected

Annual sales in UF, projected

UF is indexed to inflation, so this is a projection in real terms.

010 M20 M30 M40 Mprojection →29 M2029 · central2005201520242029
010 M20 M30 M40 Mprojection →29 M2029 · central2005201520242029
observed 2005–2024central projection80% interval3.5% a year observed · 4.5% projected

What Ovalle is specialised in

2024 · SII

Of the 672 activities the tax register files firms under, Ovalle employs more people in 81 of them than Chile does, proportionally. That comparison is Balassa's revealed comparative advantage: this place's share of an activity, over the country's share of it. Above one, the activity is over-represented here.

81
activities it is specialised in
31,950
formal workers
167/296
by the complexity of what it is specialised in
0%20%40%60%-2.5-0.93.7Actividades de la administración …Actividades de apoyo a la agricul…Otras actividades de limpieza de …Reparación de otros tipos de equi…Extracción de minerales de hierroVenta al por mayor de artículos e…Venta al por menor de artículos d…Venta al por menor de gas licuado…Peluquería y otros tratamientos d…How much of what surrounds the activity is already hereComplexity of the activity
0%20%40%60%-2.5-0.93.7Reparación de otros tipos de equi…Venta al por mayor de artículos e…Cultivo de frutos oleaginosos (in…Cultivo de floresHow much of what surrounds the activity is already hereComplexity of the activity

Most over-represented in Ovalle

Ranked by how many times the national share this place reaches. The division each activity belongs to is a page of its own.

ActivityDivisionWorkers hereTimes the national share
Cultivo de uva destinada a la producción de pisco y aguardienteCultivo de plantas perennes230137.6×
Destilación, rectificación y mezclas de bebidas alcohólicas; excepto piscoElaboración de bebidas alcohólicas y no alcohólicas7732.3×
Cultivo de cítricosCultivo de plantas perennes9332.0×
Reparación de otros tipos de equipoReparación de productos elaborados de metal, maquinaria y equipo7528.8×
Promoción y organización de competencias deportivasActividades deportivas4418.0×
Actividades poscosechaActividades de apoyo a la agricultura y la ganadería y actividades poscosecha16417.6×
Cultivo de uva para mesaCultivo de plantas perennes1,05915.6×
Elaboración de aceites y grasas de origen vegetal y animal (excepto elaboración de mantequilla)Elaboración de aceites y grasas de origen vegetal y animal13013.8×
Cultivo de frutas tropicales y subtropicales (incluye el cultivo de paltas)Cultivo de plantas perennes10713.3×
Cultivo de porotosCultivo de plantas no perennes2411.1×
Reparación de aparatos de uso doméstico, equipo doméstico y de jardineríaReparación de efectos personales y enseres domésticos289.2×
Cría de aves de corral para la producción de huevosGanadería1318.7×

The register files a firm at its tax address, so an activity can be over-represented here because the work happens here or because the head office does. Both are real facts about a place and they are not the same fact, and nothing in the register tells them apart: the communes where large firms keep their registered office carry activities that are physically elsewhere in Chile.

Revealed comparative advantage (Balassa, 1965) and the space of activities (Hidalgo, Klinger, Barabási and Hausmann, 2007), computed on formal employment because that is what a Chilean commune has. Built from the 500-worker activities and the communes above 1,000 formal workers; the floors are on /datos with everything else.

The land and who works it

Agricultural census · INE · 2020/2021
109,956
hectares in holdings
31.3%
of them under a named use
99.0%
of the crop land is irrigated
1,252
holdings with land here
Not farmed 75%Orchards and vineyards 11%Pasture 10.0%Annual … 2.2%Woodla… 2.1%Scrub, barren ground and buildings69%Untill…land5.9%Fruit trees8.5%Vines2.6%Pasture10.0%Vegetab…1.4%Fod…cro…Forestplanta…Nat…woo…
Not farmed 75%Orchards and vin… 11%Pasture 10.0%Scrub, barren ground and buildings69%Fruit trees8.5%Vin…Pasture10.0%Veg…For…pla…
Pasturehover a tile for its count; click a group to open itFive families of land use, grouped by PuroChile from the fourteen categories the census publishes. The fifteenth tile is not a category: it is the censused surface less the fourteen.

Population and territory

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Population pyramid

MenWomen001122334455%0 to 45 to 910 to 1415 to 1920 to 2425 to 2930 to 3435 to 3940 to 4445 to 4950 to 5455 to 5960 to 6465 to 6970 to 7475 to 7980 to 8485 and over
MenWomen00224466%0 to 45 to 910 to 1415 to 1920 to 2425 to 2930 to 3435 to 3940 to 4445 to 4950 to 5455 to 5960 to 6465 to 6970 to 7475 to 7980 to 8485 and over
OvalleChile% of each territory's own population · 118,696 people counted herehover a cohort for its countsCenso de Población y Vivienda 2024, INE (cuadro D1)
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Census population
118,696
178,05718,480,43251st of 346
Average age
38.2 yrs
39.2 yrs38.1 yrs240th of 346
Ageing index · People aged 65 or over per 100 under 15.
77.9
87.479.0233rd of 345
Population density · Inhabitants per square kilometre, over the area of the census cartography.
33.5/km²
13.3/km²24.7/km²159th of 346
See the other 13 indicators
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Households
42,131
64,9326,596,52749th of 346
Dwellings
49,654
80,5757,642,71646th of 346
People per household
2.82
2.742.80120th of 345
Women
51.7%
51.4%51.5%68th of 346
Men per 100 women
93.4
94.494.3279th of 346
Under 15
18.8%
18.3%17.7%99th of 346
65 and over
14.6%
16.0%14.0%229th of 346
Dependency ratio · Population outside working age per 100 of working age.
50.2
52.246.5195th of 346
One-person households
22.7%
24.5%21.8%159th of 345
Households with children
35.0%
33.4%33.2%98th of 345
Indigenous peoples
15.3%
15.3%11.4%126th of 346
Female-headed households
49.9%
49.7%49.9%116th of 345
Land area
3,548 km²
13,353 km²748,041 km²50th of 346

Migration

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When the migrant population arrived

Ovalle52%Arrived since 202048%Arrived before 2020Chile34%Arrived since 202066%Arrived before 2020
Ovalle52%Arrived since 202048%Arrived before 2020Chile34%Arrived since 202066%Arrived before 2020
Arrived since 2020Arrived before 2020% of the foreign-born population
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Foreign-born share
4.9%
3.8%8.7%105th of 346
Lives in the commune where they were born · Casen 2024 asks in which comuna each person's mother lived when they were born. It is lifetime migration, not last year's, and it measures origin, not moves: someone born here who left and came back counts as living where they were born.
72.5%
73.6%50.5%55th of 335
Came from another commune of the same region · Of those who live here, the ones born in another comuna of this same region. It is the short move: within the metropolitan area, the valley or the neighbouring province.
9.3%
11.6%23.9%295th of 335
Came from another region · Of those who live here, the ones born in a comuna of another region.
14.8%
12.1%17.2%184th of 335
See the other 9 indicators
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Foreign-born population
5,834
6,7281,608,65062nd of 346
Average age, foreign-born
31.1 yrs
31.2 yrs33.5 yrs287th of 345
Women among foreign-born
49.3%
50.1%51.7%245th of 345
Foreign-born of working age
83.1%
82.6%83.1%84th of 345
Arrived since 2020 · Share of the migrant population that arrived in the country in 2020 or later.
52.3%
51.9%34.4%27th of 345
Foreign-born share of working-age population · Foreign-born people aged 15 to 64, over everyone aged 15 to 64 in the comuna.
6.1%
4.8%10.6%101st of 346
Average schooling, foreign-born
12.0 yrs
12.0 yrs12.9 yrs229th of 345
Net internal migration · People who arrived from another comuna minus people born here who live in another comuna. It is a lifetime balance, not a year's. Chile adds to zero by construction: nobody leaves the country in this count.
-38,430
-57,5320322nd of 335
Net internal migration per 100 residents · The balance above, over the population living in the territory.
-30.9
-30.70.0256th of 335

Education

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How far schooling went

Ovalle21%Higher41%Secondary30%Primary only5.0%Chile31%Higher37%Secondary24%Primary only5.0%
Ovalle21%41%Secondary30%Primary onlyChile31%Higher37%Secondary24%Primary only
HigherSecondaryPrimary onlyNever attendedOther or unclassified% of people aged 25 and over
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Average years of schooling
9.6 yrs
9.2 yrs10.4 yrs126th of 346
Reached higher education
21.4%
19.0%31.1%160th of 346
School attendance, ages 6-17
99.5%
99.4%98.6%195th of 333
Continues to higher education · Of young secondary-school graduates, those enrolled in first-year undergraduate studies the following March. By the comuna of the school where they finished secondary school, which is the approximation to origin that Mineduc publishes.
58.6%
59.3%55.6%103rd of 331
See the other 17 indicators
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Women's schooling as share of men's · 100 means parity; below 100, women in the territory completed fewer years than men. The census does not publish educational attainment split by sex at comuna level, so the higher-education gap is not in PuroChile: only the gap in years of schooling.
100.9%
101.6%99.8%211th of 346
Literacy rate
97.5%
96.7%97.8%112th of 346
Reached secondary education
40.7%
39.1%36.7%53rd of 346
Primary education only
29.6%
33.5%24.1%206th of 346
Never attended school
3.17%
3.71%3.01%225th of 346
Average years of schooling, men · The census publishes this average over the population aged 18 or over and crosses age with sex only in five-year bands, so it is weighted by the population aged 15 or over of each sex. Rebuilt from the 346 comunas it gives 12.1 years, the same figure INE published for the country.
11.1 yrs
10.6 yrs12.1 yrs131st of 346
Average years of schooling, women · Same weight and same caveat as the figure for men.
11.2 yrs
10.7 yrs12.1 yrs139th of 346
Illiteracy · People aged 15 or over who say they cannot read or write.
2.48%
3.31%2.18%233rd of 345
Households lacking schooling
19.5%
22.3%15.1%210th of 335
Secondary school leavers · Secondary education for children and young people, by the comuna of the school where they took it. Adults are counted apart.
1,628
2,157217,56541st of 331
Leaves from technical-vocational school · Commercial, industrial, technical, agricultural and maritime tracks.
38.8%
40.3%33.9%152nd of 331
Leaves from a rural school · By the school's own rural classification. A zero here is a measured zero —the comuna had a graduating class and none of its graduates came from a rural school—, not a cell without data: two in three comunas are in that situation. There is no continuation rate split by rural and urban because the median comuna's rural divisor does not reach thirty graduates.
0.0%
4.8%3.1%114th of 331
Of those continuing, enters a university · The three destinations split the same total and add up to 100.
55.8%
54.8%67.2%231st of 331
Of those continuing, enters a professional institute · The three destinations split the same total and add up to 100.
17.0%
16.5%19.7%189th of 331
Of those continuing, enters a technical training centre · The three destinations split the same total and add up to 100.
27.3%
28.8%13.1%61st of 331
Of those continuing, studies outside their region · Compares the region of the school they graduated from with the region of the campus where they enrol. A campus is not necessarily where the student lives.
28.0%
25.7%13.0%99th of 331
Of those continuing, women · The graduates module does not publish sex, so there is no continuation rate by sex: only the make-up of those who do continue.
51.4%
52.0%49.7%154th of 331

The class of 2024

Mineduc (SIES), by the comuna they went to school in

Approximation: the comuna is the one this cohort was enrolled in for secondary school, which is what Mineduc publishes — not a home address, which it does not.

1,628left secondary school in 2024
954enrolled in a first-year programme in 2025
58.6%continued immediately
56%of those, to a university
28%of those, outside their region

The ten programmes they enrolled in most

0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%DerechoKinesiologiaIngenieria Civil IndustrialIngenieria ComercialTecnico en EnfermeriaPsicologiaNutricion y DieteticaEnfermeriaArquitecturaTecnico de Nivel Superior en Mantenimiento Industrial
0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%DerechoKinesiologiaIngenieria Civil IndustrialIngenieria ComercialTecnico en EnfermeriaPsicologiaNutricion y DieteticaEnfermeriaArquitecturaTecnico de Nivel Superior en Mantenimiento Industrial
OvalleChile

Each bar is that programme's share of everyone who continued, here and in the country — not a headcount, so a commune of a few hundred can be read beside a country of 121,050. Programme names as the register writes them: in capitals and without accents, and unmerged, since SIES publishes 1,481 distinct names in a single year and two spellings of one degree stay two rows. Only the capitals are undone here.

By field of study

0.0%20.0%40.0%Engineering and industryHealth and welfareBusiness and lawEducationServicesInformation technologySocial sciencesNatural sciencesAgriculture and veterinaryArts and humanities
0.0%20.0%40.0%Engineering and industryHealth and welfareBusiness and lawEducationServicesInformation technologySocial sciencesNatural sciencesAgriculture and veterinaryArts and humanities
OvalleChile

The ten broad fields of ISCED-F 2013, as SIES classifies each programme, as a share of everyone who continued, here and in the country.

Nineteen cohorts, 2006–2024

05001,0001,5002,0002006201520241,628954
05001,0001,5002,0002006201520241,628954
left secondary schoolenrolled the following year

Only enrolment the following March counts — someone who works for a year and starts after that is not here, so the rate is a floor under how many ever study, not an estimate of it. Adult secondary education is counted separately and is not in these figures. What the approximation above does not settle is catchment: this is the cohort Ovalle's schools taught, and where schools draw pupils from next door that is not the same set of children as the ones the territory raised.

The hospital figures come from DEIS's discharge register: one row per completed stay, in any establishment in the country, counted in the commune where the patient lives rather than where the hospital is. It counts stays, not people — someone admitted three times is three of them.

The deaths it records are the ones that happened during a stay. Deaths at home or in the street are in the vital statistics register, which is a different DEIS release and is not in PuroChile — so nothing here is this place's mortality, and every label says «hospitalaria» for that reason.

The two standardised ratios are the ones meant for comparing places: they hold Ovalle against what its own age and sex structure would produce at the country's rates, with Chile fixed at 100. A commune of older people buries more people than a commune of young families, and that is demography, not health.

In 2024, 7.5% of the country's discharges arrive with every identifying field replaced by an asterisk and cannot be attached to any commune; what is counted here is the 91.4% that carries one.

Which health system

Ovalle93%FonasaChile83%Fonasa13%Isapre
Ovalle93%FonasaChile83%Fonasa
FonasaIsapreNo coverOther system or undeclared% of the population counted
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Disability prevalence
11.0%
12.2%10.6%224th of 346
Public health insurance
93.1%
94.5%82.6%163rd of 335
Hospital discharges per 1,000 residents · Not age-adjusted. It mixes how much illness there is with how much hospital there is nearby.
60.2
53.482.5218th of 331
In-hospital mortality, standardised ratio · Chile = 100, adjusting for this comuna's age and sex.
100
88100124th of 331
See the other 21 indicators
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
People with a disability
13,047
21,6721,950,38845th of 346
Average age, people with a disability
56.7 yrs
58.0 yrs56.4 yrs239th of 346
Disability among 65+
44.1%
45.8%43.0%216th of 346
Difficulty walking
4.92%
5.64%4.92%236th of 346
Difficulty seeing
5.03%
5.55%4.58%207th of 346
Difficulty hearing
2.32%
2.74%2.16%220th of 346
Difficulty concentrating
2.68%
2.93%2.70%207th of 346
Private health insurance
1.6%
1.1%13.2%242nd of 335
No health coverage
3.34%
2.90%1.98%69th of 335
Sought care when ill · Of those who had an illness or accident in the last three months.
85.5%
82.4%92.1%288th of 332
Households lacking health access
10.8%
13.4%6.0%33rd of 335
Hospital discharges · Episodes, not people: someone hospitalised three times counts three times.
7,150
9,5121,523,71660th of 331
Deaths during a hospital stay · Only those that happen in hospital; the rest do not go through this register.
250
35836,69844th of 331
In-hospital case fatality · Of every 100 hospital stays, how many end in death.
3.50%
3.76%2.41%94th of 331
Average length of stay · Bed-days over discharges, averaged after adding up.
6.8 days
7.1 days6.1 days142nd of 331
In-hospital deaths per 10,000 residents · Not age-adjusted, and therefore high where the population is older.
21.1
20.119.9130th of 331
Hospitalisation, standardised ratio · Chile = 100, adjusting for this comuna's age and sex.
72
63100209th of 331
Cancer hospitalisations · Discharges with a malignant tumour (C00-C97) as the main diagnosis. Episodes, not people.
369
49989,72368th of 330
Share of hospitalisations that are for cancer · Of every 100 discharges in the comuna, how many are for a malignant tumour.
5.2%
5.2%5.9%210th of 330
Cancer hospitalisations per 10,000 residents · Not age-adjusted: above all it compares how old the comuna is.
31.1
28.048.6241st of 330
Cancer hospitalisation, standardised ratio · Chile = 100, adjusting for this comuna's age and sex. It is the only one of the four made for comparing places.
63
54100232nd of 330

What people are hospitalised for

Digestive and urinary tract 26%Pregnancy, birth and newborns 22%Heart and lungs 18%Injuries, bones and skin 14%Tumours, blood and metabo… 12%Digestive system17%Genitouri…system8.7%Pregnancy andchildbirth18%Perina…condit…3.0%Congen…malfor…Circulatorysystem9.5%Respiratorysystem8.8%Injuries andpoisoning9.2%Musculos…3.4%SkinCancers andtumours6.9%EndocrineandmetabolicInfect…andparasi…Cont…withheal…NervoussystemMentalandbehavi…
Digestive and urinary … 26%Pregnancy, birth … 22%Heart and l… 18%Injuries, bones and… 14%Tumours, blood and … 12%Digestivesystem17%Genito…system8.7%Pregnancy andchildbirth18%Per…con…Con…mal…Circulatorysystem9.5%Respiratorysystem8.8%Injuries andpoisoning9.2%Muscu…3.4%Cancers andtumours6.9%Endoc…andmetab…Infec…andparas…Contac…Ill-d…NervoussystemMent…and…
hover a tile for its count and its distance from Chile; click a group to open itSeven families of cause, grouped by PuroChile from the 22 ICD-10 chapters. The chapter is still the tile; the family is nothing but the sum of its chapters.

By tumour site

Órganos digestivos27%Genitales masculinos12%Genitales femeninos11%Mama7.9%Víasurinarias7.9%Sangre ysistemalinfático7.9%Tiroides yendocrinas7.6%Sitios maldefinidos6.0%Boca yfaringe3.0%Víasrespiratorias3.0%Encéfalo ysistema…Piel ymelano…2.2%Sitiosreserv…1.6%
Órganos digestivos27%Genitalesmasculinos12%Genitalesfemeninos11%Mama7.9%Víasurinarias7.9%Sangre ysistemalinfático7.9%Tiroides yendocrinas7.6%Sitiosmaldefinid…6.0%Boca yfaringeVíasrespirat…Encéfalo ysistema…Piel ymelan…2.2%Sit…res…
Órganos digestivosGenitales masculinosGenitales femeninosMamaVías urinariasSangre y sistema linfáticohover a tile for its count and its distance from Chile

Economy and poverty

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IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Income poverty · People in households whose income does not cover the poverty line.
24.3%
26.2%17.3%109th of 335
Average monthly pay · Reported net pay in UF divided by workers weighted by months worked.
21.2 UF
21.0 UF32.0 UF223rd of 342
Women's pay as share of men's · 100 means parity; below 100, women earn less per full-time-equivalent job.
110.1%
108.4%78.9%87th of 342
Firms per 1,000 residents · Firms with their registered address or head office in the territory; in comunas where large firms are registered the figure reflects the head office, not the activity.
68.5
68.585.6232nd of 346
See the other 16 indicators
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Employment rate · Employed people over the population aged 15 or over.
50.0%
47.8%54.4%188th of 345
Census unemployment · Measured by the Census, not by Casen: the two ask differently.
11.2%
11.3%8.6%52nd of 345
Self-employed
33.8%
33.2%33.8%197th of 345
Extreme poverty
9.1%
9.9%6.9%131st of 335
Multidimensional poverty · Households with deprivations in education, health, work, housing or networks.
16.8%
20.0%17.7%187th of 335
Unemployment rate
12.0%
12.6%8.8%76th of 335
Household income per capita · Chilean pesos per month, corrected total income.
CLP 498,575
CLP 464,225CLP 783,124205th of 335
Gini coefficient · 0 is a perfectly equal split and 1 a perfectly unequal one. On household per-capita income (ypchtotcor). A survey estimate: in comunas with a small sample the interval is wide.
0.406
0.4200.488240th of 321
Registered firms
8,134
12,2001,582,39048th of 346
Annual sales
23,619,390 UF
31,959,602 UF34,347,683,688 UF87th of 342
Employees reported · People reported at some point in the tax year, not average employment: the national total exceeds the employed because someone who worked two months counts the same as someone who worked twelve.
31,979
46,6019,699,16458th of 346
Sales per firm
2,904 UF
2,620 UF21,706 UF213th of 342
Employees per firm · Workers weighted by months worked, so two half-year jobs are not counted as two positions.
2.4
2.33.9124th of 346
Women among employees
46.0%
45.7%40.6%88th of 345
Independent contractors
9,760
14,4153,958,26958th of 346
Contractors as share of workers
23.4%
23.6%29.0%238th of 346

Employment by industry

Trade and logistics 27%Natural resources 25%State and social services 22%Industry and … 13%Advanced s… 6.9%Other serv… 5.0%Retail andwholesale17%Transport5.7%Accommodati…and food4.9%Agriculture andfishing15%Mining10%Education9.9%Health7.9%PublicadministrationConstruction7.1%Manufactur…4.4%WaterandwasteElec…and…Admin…servi…3.2%Profes…servic…Fina…Real…Domes…work2.1%Otherservi…2.0%
Trade and logistics 27%Natural resources 25%State and social s… 22%Industr… 13%Adva… 6.9%Othe… 5.0%Retail andwholesale17%Transport5.7%Accommod…and food4.9%Agriculture andfishing15%Mining10%Education9.9%Health7.9%Pub…adm…Constructi…7.1%Manufac…4.4%Admi…serv…Profe…servi…Inf…Fin…Dom…workOtherservic…
hover a tile for its count and its distance from Chile; click a group to open itSix activity families, grouped by PuroChile from CAENES.

Employment by occupation

Skilled occupations 56%Managers and professionals 25%Elementary occupations 19%Service and sales22%Craft and trades12%Plant and machineoperators11%Skilledagricultur…6.1%Clericalsupport5.1%Professionals13%Technicians9.5%ManagersElementary occupations19%
Skilled occupations 56%Managers and profession… 25%Elementary occup… 19%Service andsales22%Craft and trades12%Plant and machineoperators11%Skilledagricult…6.1%Clericalsupport5.1%Professiona…13%Technicians9.5%ManagersElementaryoccupations19%
Elementary occupationsArmed forceshover a tile for its count and its distance from Chile; click a group to open itCIUO-08 (ISCO) skill levels.

Housing and services

See all →

House or flat

Ovalle93%House6.3%Chile79%House20%Flat
Ovalle93%HouseChile79%House20%
HouseFlatOther dwelling type% of private dwellings
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Overcrowded dwellings
4.6%
4.9%5.7%251st of 345
Internet access
90.4%
87.5%93.2%144th of 345
Average distance to a facility with an emergency service · Population-weighted average of the straight-line distance from each of the 244,754 blocks and rural entities of the 2024 census to the nearest facility standing in September 2026. It is a floor: nobody travels in a straight line.
4.3
5.72.3145th of 345
Average distance to a school teaching upper secondary · Population-weighted average of the straight-line distance from each of the 244,754 blocks and rural entities of the 2024 census to the nearest facility standing in 2025. It is a floor: nobody travels in a straight line.
3.8
5.91.6151st of 345
See the other 35 indicators
IndicatorValueAgainst its peersProvinceChileRank
Occupied dwellings with residents
41,151
63,3776,408,17249th of 346
Critically overcrowded
0.29%
0.31%0.57%220th of 345
Irrecoverable dwellings
1.64%
2.68%1.13%98th of 345
Public water network
91.6%
88.0%92.3%114th of 345
Electricity access
99.3%
98.9%99.6%187th of 345
Detached houses
92.7%
94.7%78.7%252nd of 345
Apartments
6.3%
4.1%19.9%84th of 345
Precarious wall materials
0.20%
0.27%0.23%140th of 345
Unoccupied private dwellings
13.5%
17.5%11.9%192nd of 345
Quantitative housing deficit
2,826
4,965491,90456th of 345
Housing deficit as share of households
6.7%
7.6%7.5%95th of 345
Renting households
19.4%
16.6%26.2%107th of 345
Owner-occupiers
66.7%
67.2%61.1%214th of 345
Households heating with wood · Firewood is the main source of urban air pollution in the south.
5.2%
8.5%24.4%284th of 345
Commute by public transport
40.5%
38.5%42.1%53rd of 345
Walks to work
16.2%
18.0%10.2%163rd of 345
Households with a computer
41.7%
37.7%54.9%180th of 345
Average distance to any health facility · Population-weighted average of the straight-line distance from each of the 244,754 blocks and rural entities of the 2024 census to the nearest facility standing in September 2026. It is a floor: nobody travels in a straight line.
1.4
1.61.1231st of 345
People within 5 km of any health facility · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 5 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in September 2026.
92.6%
91.6%97.0%199th of 345
People within 15 km of any health facility · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 15 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in September 2026.
99.7%
99.7%99.9%273rd of 345
People within 30 km of any health facility · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 30 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in September 2026.
100.0%
100.0%100.0%1st of 345
People within 5 km of a facility with an emergency service · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 5 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in September 2026.
79.2%
69.6%89.4%144th of 345
People within 15 km of a facility with an emergency service · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 15 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in September 2026.
91.1%
86.4%98.1%262nd of 345
People within 30 km of a facility with an emergency service · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 30 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in September 2026.
98.4%
98.3%99.7%288th of 345
Average distance to a second- or third-level facility · Population-weighted average of the straight-line distance from each of the 244,754 blocks and rural entities of the 2024 census to the nearest facility standing in September 2026. It is a floor: nobody travels in a straight line.
4.6
15.55.9229th of 345
People within 5 km of a second- or third-level facility · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 5 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in September 2026.
76.8%
50.7%80.3%105th of 345
People within 15 km of a second- or third-level facility · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 15 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in September 2026.
89.6%
59.2%90.0%149th of 345
People within 30 km of a second- or third-level facility · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 30 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in September 2026.
97.6%
77.5%96.2%210th of 345
Average distance to a school in operation · Population-weighted average of the straight-line distance from each of the 244,754 blocks and rural entities of the 2024 census to the nearest facility standing in 2025. It is a floor: nobody travels in a straight line.
0.6
0.80.6272nd of 345
People within 5 km of a school in operation · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 5 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in 2025.
99.5%
99.1%99.0%124th of 345
People within 15 km of a school in operation · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 15 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in 2025.
100.0%
99.9%99.9%1st of 345
People within 30 km of a school in operation · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 30 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in 2025.
100.0%
100.0%100.0%1st of 345
People within 5 km of a school teaching upper secondary · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 5 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in 2025.
77.4%
64.7%91.6%174th of 345
People within 15 km of a school teaching upper secondary · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 15 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in 2025.
91.4%
85.0%98.5%271st of 345
People within 30 km of a school teaching upper secondary · Lives in a census block or rural entity within 30 km of the nearest facility, as the crow flies. Population from the 2024 census; facilities as they stood in 2025.
98.5%
97.1%99.8%292nd of 345

How people commute

Public transport 41%Private vehicle 31%On foot or by bicycle 19%Other means 10%Public transport41%Car30%Walking16%Other10%
Public transport 41%Private vehicle 31%On foot or by bicycle 19%Other means 10%Public transport41%Car30%Walking16%Other10%
Public transporthover a tile for its count and its distance from Chile; click a group to open itFour modes, grouped by PuroChile.

Housing tenure

Owned 67%Rented 19%Provided rent-f… 12%Owned outright56%Owned, still paying10%Rented, withcontract11%Rented, no contract8.5%Provided byfamily9.8%
Owned 67%Rented 19%Provided re… 12%Owned outright56%Owned,stillpaying10%Rented, withcontract11%Rented, nocontract8.5%Provided byfamily9.8%
Otherhover a tile for its count and its distance from Chile; click a group to open itFour tenure types, grouped by PuroChile.

Home heating fuel

No heating 59%Fossil fuels 21%Electricity 14%Wood a… 5.7%No heating59%Gas20%Electricity14%Firewood5.2%
No heating 59%Fossil fuels 21%Electricity 14%No heating59%Gas20%Electricity14%Firewo…5.2%
No heatingElectricityOther sourcehover a tile for its count and its distance from Chile; click a group to open itFour fuel types, grouped by PuroChile.

How it voted in 2025

TRICEL · qualified result
87.0%
of the registered voted in the first round
86.7%
voted in the runoff
96,432
registered voters on the roll
9.0%
of runoff ballots were null or blank

Presidential runoff · 14 December

Jeannette Jara Roman42.6%41.7%
Jose Antonio Kast Rist57.4%58.3%
OvalleChileshare of the valid vote

Presidential, first round · 16 November

Franco Parisi Fernandez31.3%19.8%
Jeannette Jara Roman24.8%26.7%
Marco Antonio Enriquez-Ominami Gumucio1.2%1.2%
Johannes Kaiser Barents-Von Hohenhagen13.2%13.9%
Jose Antonio Kast Rist20.4%24.0%
Eduardo Antonio Artes Brichetti0.5%0.7%
Evelyn Matthei Fornet7.8%12.4%
Harold Mayne-Nicholls Secul0.9%1.3%
OvalleChileshare of the valid vote

Chamber of Deputies · 16 November

CUnidad por Chile26.9%30.6%
KCambio por Chile22.9%23.0%
JChile Grande y Unido23.1%21.1%
IPartido de la Gente16.6%12.0%
BVerdes, Regionalistas y Humanistas4.1%6.9%
DIzquierda Ecologista Popular Animalista y Humanista4.2%2.6%
APartido Ecologista Verde—0.8%
EMovimiento Amarillos por Chile2.2%0.8%
GPartido Alianza Verde Popular—0.6%
FPartido de Trabajadores Revolucionarios—0.6%
HPopular—0.2%
Independents outside a pact—0.7%
OvalleChileshare of the valid vote

Sister communes

How this is computed

The four communes that most resemble Ovalle across the 28 figures PuroChile publishes for the 345 communes with complete data, grouped into seven dimensions of equal weight. This is not proximity: nothing in the computation knows where any commune is.

ScalePopulation structureMigrationEducationHealthEconomyHousing and services

The figure beside each name is the distance between the two communes: 0 would be identical, and 1.48 is what separates any two communes in the country. Each bar is one of the seven dimensions, and reaches the end when the two differ on it by twice what two communes picked at random do. Location is not part of the computation: 52% of these pairings cross into another region.

Inside the commune

Census districts
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