A median age of 54.6: Prayols is older than 93% of compared French towns
12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, against 0.6% in Prayols. On the census count, 0.8% of homes are flats. Few places have so few one-person households: 29% here, fewer than in just over four fifths of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 364 residents here, living in 170 households.
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 Prayols
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 31 second homes and occasional dwellings in Prayols, 13% of its 230 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 93% 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 Prayols’ residents are under 54.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 24% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.4% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 29 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Households without a car make up 3.8% in Prayols, less than in 95% 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
6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, against 12% in Prayols. Few places have as many second homes: 13% here, more than in 90% of compared French towns. On average, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 6.8% moved in during the last two years and 21% have stayed three decades or more.
−3% since 2012: slower than 82% 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
Here the change came as −1% to 2017, then −2% to 2023.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 9% in Prayols, less than in 82% 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
■ Prayols 54.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 24%, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
In Prayols, 21% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 70% 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
With single-parent households at 11%, Prayols is ahead of 71% of compared French towns on that count. In the typical compared French town, 25% of households are couples with children. Households here average 2.1 people each.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €27,090 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 Prayols is €27,090 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 62% of compared French towns.
More households headed by a manager or professional than 72% of compared French towns: 14%
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 manual worker: 12% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 29% of households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 8.5%, a higher share than 63% 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 higher than in 63% of compared French towns. 4.8% of residents are foreign nationals, or about one in 21. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 49% in Prayols, more than in 89% 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
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, just over a fifth of residents 15 and over are single here. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
Prayols sits below 98% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (8.5%)
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
Graduates of higher education: 35% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. Typically, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 364 to 2,582 people, the 7th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Every neighbor is younger than Prayols
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prayols | 54.6 | 24% | 13% | 8.5% |
| Foix 9,934 · 2.7 mi | 46.8 | 27% | 7.6% | 15% |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège 3,085 · 5.6 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 8% | 18% |
| Varilhes 3,487 · 8.4 mi | 46.7 | 26% | 3.7% | 4.1% |
| Saint-Jean-du-Falga 2,851 · 11 mi | 50 | 30% | 1.8% | 7.6% |
| Lavelanet 5,987 · 11.3 mi | 54.4 | 33% | 12% | 14% |
| La Tour-du-Crieu 3,230 · 12.4 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 Prayols
What is the population of Prayols?
364 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (376).
How old are Prayols’ residents?
The median age is 54.6, older than 93% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Prayols?
31, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Prayols?
INSEE counts 31 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.5% of residents, and 17 foreign nationals (4.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Prayols?
€27,090 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.