54% of homes are second homes, a share 98% of compared French towns don’t reach
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 6.2%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Massat’s 380 households held 749 residents at the 2023 Census. Locally, 2.7% of households are headed by a manager or professional.
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 Massat
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 530 second homes and occasional dwellings in Massat, 54% of its 970 homes: higher than in 98% of compared French towns. 99% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Massat’s households are one person: higher than in 93% 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.
A lower share of flats than 89% of compared French towns, at 8.8%
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
Without a car: one household in six, against 11% in the median compared French town. Here, 17% of households have no car. 7% of homes stand empty, a higher share than in 54% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
A +9% change since 2012: faster than 65% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was −4%; from 2017 to 2023, +14%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Ariège town +2%.
31% of residents are 65 or over, a share 87% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Massat 49.3. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 49.3, Massat is older than four fifths of compared French towns. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
In Massat, 15% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 90% 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
One-person households: 50%, above 93% of compared French towns. Massat has more single-parent households than 89% of compared French towns, at 14%. For couples with children, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%. The average household has 1.8 people.
The median resident lives on €16,040 a year per consumption unit
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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €16,040 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 99% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a retired person than 75% of compared French towns: 28%
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
The census found that 15% of households are headed by a manual worker in Massat. 2.7% of the town’s households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 28% by a retired person (32%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
9.4% of residents are foreign nationals, more than in 80% 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.
Immigrants: 11% here and 6.5% in the typical compared French town. That is higher than in nearly three quarters of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Ariège has 9.1%. As a yardstick, 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 97% of compared French towns: 30% 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
Single residents make up 36%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married.
22% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 79% 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
The share of adults with no qualification tops 70% of compared French towns: 23%. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (749 to 2,582 people), the 14th 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 Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Massat and its 3 nearest towns: 2 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massat | 49.3 | 31% | 54% | 11% |
| Saint-Girons 6,008 · 12.2 mi | 51.9 | 33% | 6.7% | 9.1% |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège 3,085 · 13.2 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 8% | 18% |
| Foix 9,934 · 14.2 mi | 46.8 | 27% | 7.6% | 15% |
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 Massat
What is the population of Massat?
749 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (689).
How old are Massat’s residents?
The median age is 49.3, older than 80% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Massat?
530, with occasional dwellings: 54% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Massat?
INSEE counts 81 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 70 foreign nationals (9.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Massat?
€16,040 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 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.