Ax-les-Thermes sits above 99% of compared French towns for second homes (79%)
Set against 6.7% in the typical compared French town, 2.9% of homes stand empty in Ax-les-Thermes. Its 660 households held 1,285 residents at the 2023 Census. Here, just over one in ten households are couples with children. Higher than in 93% of compared French towns: 76% of homes are flats.
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 Ax-les-Thermes
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 2,790 second homes and occasional dwellings in Ax-les-Thermes, 79% of its 3,550 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 17% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Ax-les-Thermes’ residents are under 55 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
47% of Ax-les-Thermes’ households are one person: higher than in 88% of compared French towns; 27% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 82% of compared French towns: 20% of households have no car
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
Where 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, Ax-les-Thermes has 15%. 16% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 14% moved in within the last two years. As a yardstick, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town.
−3% since 2012, a pace below 80% 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
The median Ariège town changed +2% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −4% and the next six +1%.
Half of Ax-les-Thermes is over 55, older than 94% 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
■ Ax-les-Thermes 55. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over a third of Ax-les-Thermes’ residents are 65 or older, against 27% in the median Ariège town and 22% in the median compared French town; 11% are under 18. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 7.1%.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Ax-les-Thermes: 47% of households are one person living alone, above 88% of compared French towns
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
On average, 1.8 people share a household. As a yardstick, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. At 13%, the share of single-parent households is higher than in 88% of compared French towns.
A median standard of living of €23,640 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 residents live in households above €23,640 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 75% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a manual worker than 94% of compared French towns: 6%
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
Put another way, about one in three: 31% of households are headed by a retired person. More households headed by a manager or professional than in 51% of compared French towns: 9.7%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Ax-les-Thermes: 10% of residents are immigrants, above 71% 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 share of foreign nationals is 6.3%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 35%, a lower share than 88% 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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 30% of residents 15 and over are single in Ax-les-Thermes. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
Ax-les-Thermes ranks above 60% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 33%
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: 17%, below just over three fifths of compared French towns. On average, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,285 to 2,582 people: this is the 6th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Ax-les-Thermes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ax-les-Thermes | 55 | 34% | 79% | 10% |
| Lavelanet 5,987 · 14.8 mi | 54.4 | 33% | 12% | 14% |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège 3,085 · 15 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 Ax-les-Thermes
What is the population of Ax-les-Thermes?
1,285 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (1,318).
How old are Ax-les-Thermes’ residents?
The median age is 55, older than 94% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ax-les-Thermes?
2,790, with occasional dwellings: 79% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ax-les-Thermes?
INSEE counts 130 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 10% of residents, and 81 foreign nationals (6.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ax-les-Thermes?
€23,640 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). 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.