Above 99% of compared French towns: 73% of homes are second homes
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 3% of homes are flats in Ascou. Still, with a median age of 48.8, Ascou is older than 78% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 113 residents here, living in 58 households. 1.7% of homes stand empty, or about one in 59.
Throughout this page, the Ariège 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 Ascou
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 170 second homes and occasional dwellings in Ascou, 73% of its 230 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 98% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Ascou had 153 residents at the 2012 census and 113 in 2023, down 26%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Ascou’s households are one person: higher than in 94% of compared French towns; 38% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Ascou sits below 51% of compared French towns for households without a car (10%)
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
8.6% of households moved in less than two years ago; 16% have been in their home 30 years or more. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. To put it in context, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town.
Ascou changed by −26% from 2012 to 2023, behind 99% 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, +2% in Ariège. Here the change came as −21% to 2017, then −7% to 2023.
9.7% of residents are 15 to 24, below 69% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ascou 48.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Here, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over. Elsewhere, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
45% women, 55% men
About 122 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Ascou sits above 94% of compared French towns for one-person households (50%)
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 Ariège median and the France median
Living alone · share
Here nearly one in ten households are single parents, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 10%. Elsewhere, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Locally, 25% of households are couples with children.
Ascou: 25% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 96% 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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for households headed by a manual worker is 14% in the typical compared French town. Here, a third of households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
8.8% of residents are foreign nationals, a share 78% of compared French towns don’t reach
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.
Set against 6.5% in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are immigrants in Ascou. That is higher than in 73% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Ariège has 9.1%. 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.
Below 82% of compared French towns: 37% of residents 15 and over are married
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
Compared with other places, single residents are common here: 26%, more than in 57% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
7.9% of adults out of school have no qualification, below 99% 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
36% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 15th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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 Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Every neighbor is older than Ascou
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascou | 48.8 | 23% | 73% | 11% |
| Lavelanet 5,987 · 14.5 mi | 54.4 | 33% | 12% | 14% |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège 3,085 · 16.7 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 8% | 18% |
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 Ascou
What is the population of Ascou?
113 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 26% fewer than in 2012 (153).
How old are Ascou’s residents?
The median age is 48.8, older than 78% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ascou?
170, with occasional dwellings: 73% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ascou?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 10 foreign nationals (8.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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 October 30, 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.