A median age of 52.2: Montgailhard is older than 89% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Montgailhard was home to 1,437 people in 720 households. Across Montgailhard, nearly half of households are headed by a retired person. In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats; here, 8.7%.
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 Montgailhard
An older town
Half of Montgailhard’s residents are under 52.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: +3% since 2012, behind 59% 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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Ariège town +2%.
32% of residents are 65 or over, a share 90% 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
■ Montgailhard 52.2. The median compared French town: 44.
8.3% of residents are 15 to 24; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. Measured more widely, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
17% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 84% 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
Montgailhard sits close to the norm on single-parent households: 9.1%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. The census found that 38% of households are one person living alone locally.
Montgailhard sits above 83% of compared French towns for empty homes (11%)
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
Of all households, 7.6% moved in during the last two years and 26% have stayed three decades or more. On households without a car, Montgailhard sits lower than 70% of compared French towns: 7.4%. The wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. The share of second homes tops 71% of compared French towns: 4%.
At the median, €25,200 a year to live on
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.
At €25,200 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 58% of compared French towns.
Montgailhard sits below 82% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (9.1%)
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 share of households headed by a manager or professional stands at 10%. Measured more widely, 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).
6.8% of Montgailhard’s residents are immigrants
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.
Across Montgailhard, 3.6% of residents are foreign nationals. That is higher than in 52% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Ariège has 9.1%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 57% of compared French towns: 24% of residents 15 and over are single
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
In Montgailhard, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Adults with no qualification: 14%, a lower share than 80% 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
At 31%, the share of graduates of higher education is higher than in 54% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
8th highest median age among 41 French towns of 1,437 to 2,582
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.
Median age: 1 of the 6 towns around Montgailhard 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgailhard | 52.2 | 32% | 4% | 6.8% |
| Foix 9,934 · 2.3 mi | 46.8 | 27% | 7.6% | 15% |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège 3,085 · 6.4 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 8% | 18% |
| Varilhes 3,487 · 7.8 mi | 46.7 | 26% | 3.7% | 4.1% |
| Saint-Jean-du-Falga 2,851 · 10.4 mi | 50 | 30% | 1.8% | 7.6% |
| Lavelanet 5,987 · 10.9 mi | 54.4 | 33% | 12% | 14% |
| La Tour-du-Crieu 3,230 · 11.7 mi | 44.8 | 23% | 1.3% | 6.3% |
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 Montgailhard
What is the population of Montgailhard?
1,437 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (1,401).
How old are Montgailhard’s residents?
The median age is 52.2, older than 89% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Montgailhard?
34, with occasional dwellings: 4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Montgailhard?
INSEE counts 97 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.8% of residents, and 52 foreign nationals (3.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Montgailhard?
€25,200 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.