Second homes make up 79% in Prades, more than in 99% of compared French towns
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 3.7%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. At 17%, the share of single-parent households is higher than in 98% of compared French towns. Prades had 54 residents in 28 households at the 2023 census. The share of households in social housing stands at 3.6%.
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 Prades
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 130 second homes and occasional dwellings in Prades, 79% of its 170 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 90% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Prades had 43 residents at the 2012 census and 54 in 2023, up 26%: faster growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Prades’ households are one person: higher than in 94% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Many graduates
50% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 18% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Flats make up 10% in Prades, less than in 87% of compared French towns
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
Against a figure of 6.7% in the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes in Prades comes in at 4.2%. Few places have as many households without a car: 14% here, more than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. For comparison, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
Growth of +26% since 2012 puts Prades ahead of 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −23%, and from 2017 to 2023 +64%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Ariège town +2%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 72% of compared French towns: 26%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Prades 46. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Prades is 46, higher than in 63% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 80 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 50% in Prades, more than in 94% 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
Average household size: 1.9 people. For one-person households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 35%. 17% of households are couples with children, a lower share than in 86% of compared French towns.
Above 67% of compared French towns: 17% of households are headed by a manual worker
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. Set beside that, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. For Prades, the census puts households headed by a retired person at 33%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A higher share of immigrants than 81% of compared French towns, at 13%
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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are foreign nationals in Prades. The wider picture: 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.
19% of residents 15 and over are single, below 95% 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
Here 49% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of adults with no qualification than 99% of compared French towns: 6.8%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education is 30%; Prades has 50%. Elsewhere, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 19th oldest of 41 French towns of 54 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as young as Prades
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prades | 46 | 26% | 79% | 13% |
| Lavelanet 5,987 · 10.1 mi | 54.4 | 33% | 12% | 14% |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège 3,085 · 14.6 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 8% | 18% |
| Quillan 2,978 · 16.5 mi | 59.1 | 38% | 19% | 14% |
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 Prades
What is the population of Prades?
54 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 26% more than in 2012 (43).
How old are Prades’ residents?
The median age is 46, older than 63% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Prades?
130, with occasional dwellings: 79% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Prades?
INSEE counts 7 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 13% of residents, and 6 foreign nationals (11%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.