Above 98% of compared French towns: 52% of homes are second homes
The figure for flats is 2.4% in Vernaux and 30% in the typical compared French town. Locally, 25% of households are headed by a manager or professional. Couples with children are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 36, in 19 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 Vernaux
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 22 second homes and occasional dwellings in Vernaux, 52% of its 42 homes: higher than in 98% of compared French towns. 100% 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 Vernaux’s residents are under 53 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Vernaux’s households are one person: higher than in 94% of compared French towns; 27% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
2.4% of homes stand empty, fewer than in 98% 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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. For comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. 5.3% of households have no car, or about one in 19.
Vernaux grew +9% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 67% 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 those years, the median Ariège town changed +2% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −15%, then +29% to 2023.
Vernaux is older than 91% of compared French towns: a median age of 53
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Vernaux 53. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town. 31% of residents are 65 or over.
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%.
A higher share of one-person households than 94% of compared French towns, at 50%
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
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households average 1.9 people.
Vernaux sits below 83% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (25%)
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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. For households headed by a retired person, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Vernaux, 8.3% of residents are foreign nationals, more than in 76% 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.
In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants; in Vernaux, 8.3%. Across the comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. That is higher than in 62% 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.
Only 41% of residents 15 and over are married in Vernaux
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
For Vernaux, the census puts single residents at 26%. Set beside that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of graduates of higher education than 54% of compared French towns: 31%
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
Vernaux has fewer adults with no qualification than 52% of compared French towns, at 19%. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 36 to 2,582 people: this is 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.
Around Vernaux, 1 of 3 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernaux | 53 | 31% | 52% | 8.3% |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège 3,085 · 9.3 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 8% | 18% |
| Lavelanet 5,987 · 11.8 mi | 54.4 | 33% | 12% | 14% |
| Foix 9,934 · 15.1 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 Vernaux
What is the population of Vernaux?
36 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (33).
How old are Vernaux’s residents?
The median age is 53, older than 91% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vernaux?
22, with occasional dwellings: 52% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vernaux?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.3% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (8.3%). 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 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.