A median age of 57.9: La Bastide-sur-l'Hers is older than 97% of compared French towns
By its share of households headed by a retired person (57%), La Bastide-sur-l'Hers is above 99% of compared French towns. The town is home to 676 residents in 380 households, by the 2023 Census. Locally, 2.6% of households are single parents. 2.4% of households rent social housing (HLM), a lower share than in 96% of compared French towns.
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 La Bastide-sur-l'Hers
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 120 second homes and occasional dwellings in La Bastide-sur-l'Hers, 23% of its 540 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 96% 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 La Bastide-sur-l'Hers’ residents are under 57.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 39% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
La Bastide-sur-l'Hers had 737 residents at the 2012 census and 676 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
48% of La Bastide-sur-l'Hers’ households are one person: higher than in 90% of compared French towns; 40% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 94% of compared French towns: 23% of homes are second homes
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
16% of households have no car; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. In the typical compared French town, the share of second homes is 2.1%. Flats make up about one in seven here (15%). Few places have so few empty homes: 6.6% here, fewer than in 52% of compared French towns.
Since 2012, La Bastide-sur-l'Hers has changed by −8%, slower than 95% 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.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 97% of compared French towns: 39%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ La Bastide-sur-l'Hers 57.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in La Bastide-sur-l'Hers comes in at 6.4%. To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
More one-person households than 90% of compared French towns: 48%
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
17% of households are couples with children (typical compared French town: 25%). In the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households is 35%. The average household has 1.8 people.
A typical living standard of €22,920 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 €22,920 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 82% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manual worker than 96% of compared French towns, at 5.3%
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. As a yardstick, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
12% of residents are immigrants, more than in 79% 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.
In the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals is 4.3%; La Bastide-sur-l'Hers has 6.7%. The median compared commune in Ariège has 9.1%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
41% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 63% 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
27% of residents 15 and over are single, against 25% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
La Bastide-sur-l'Hers sits above 92% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (31%)
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
The share of graduates of higher education is 20%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 676 to 2,582 people, the 5th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
La Bastide-sur-l'Hers sits below 1 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Bastide-sur-l'Hers
What is the population of La Bastide-sur-l'Hers?
676 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (737).
How old are La Bastide-sur-l'Hers’ residents?
The median age is 57.9, older than 97% of compared French towns. 12% are under 18 and 39% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Bastide-sur-l'Hers?
120, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Bastide-sur-l'Hers?
INSEE counts 83 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 12% of residents, and 45 foreign nationals (6.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Bastide-sur-l'Hers?
€22,920 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.