39% of homes are second homes, a share 96% of compared French towns don’t reach
3.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%). At the 2023 Census, 583 people lived in Oust, in 300 households. The census found that 0.6% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the town. Couples with children are rarer here than in 87% 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 Oust
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 220 second homes and occasional dwellings in Oust, 39% of its 560 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 97% 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
51% of Oust’s households are one person: higher than in 95% of compared French towns; 35% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Fewer flats than 83% of compared French towns: 12%
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
The figure for households without a car is 5.9% in Oust and 11% in the typical compared French town. 7.5% of homes stand empty, or about one in 13. Across the comparison, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
Oust’s population changed by +7% since 2012, more than in 58% 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 compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Ariège town +2%. The change was ±0% from 2012 to 2017 and +7% from 2017 to 2023.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 5%, a lower share than 99% 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
■ Oust 50. The median compared French town: 44.
31% of residents are 65 or over (typical compared French town: 22%). With a median age of 50, Oust is older than 83% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
51% of households are one person living alone, more than in 95% 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
10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town, against 13% in Oust. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%.
Standard of living at the median: €22,280 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.
The median standard of living in Oust is €22,280 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 87% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person: 42%, a higher share than 88% 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
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (9.7%), Oust is below 78% of compared French towns. Households headed by a retired person make up 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Oust, 4.2% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 72% 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 median compared commune in Ariège has 9.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 72% of compared French towns. On the census count, 2.5% of residents are foreign nationals. For comparison, 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.
Oust ranks below 98% of compared French towns on married residents: 29%
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
The share of single residents is 27%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
A smaller share of adults with no qualification than 67% of compared French towns: 16%
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 census found that 31% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Oust. Elsewhere, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 14th 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).
Oust and the towns around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oust | 50 | 31% | 39% | 4.2% |
| Saint-Girons 6,008 · 8.4 mi | 51.9 | 33% | 6.7% | 9.1% |
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 Oust
What is the population of Oust?
583 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (547).
How old are Oust’s residents?
The median age is 50, older than 83% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Oust?
220, with occasional dwellings: 39% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Oust?
INSEE counts 24 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.2% of residents, and 14 foreign nationals (2.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Oust?
€22,280 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.