Arzens ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 1%
8% of residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). Arzens’s 560 households held 1,174 residents at the 2023 Census. For Arzens, the census puts households headed by a manager or professional at 2.7%. At 6.5%, the share of households in social housing is lower than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Aude 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.
Slower than most: −1% since 2012, behind 74% 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 years 2012 to 2017 brought +4%; 2017 to 2023, −5%.
Older than 75% of compared French towns: half of Arzens is over 48.2
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Arzens 48.2. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (25%), Arzens is above two thirds of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
Arzens: 12% of households are single parents, above 76% 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 Aude median and the France median
Living alone · share
33% of households are one person living alone, against 35% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.1 people. Couples with children are rarer here than in 54% of compared French towns.
More empty homes than 81% of compared French towns: 10%
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 7.9% in Arzens and 11% in the typical compared French town. More second homes than in 73% of compared French towns: 4.2%. The benchmark for empty homes in the typical compared French town: 6.7%.
The median resident lives on €25,100 a year per consumption unit
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.
Living standards centre on €25,100 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 59% of compared French towns.
More households headed by a retired person than 72% of compared French towns: 37%
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
15% of households are headed by a manual worker, or about one in seven. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a retired person come to 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
3% of residents are foreign nationals, fewer than in 64% 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 Aude has 6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 54% of compared French towns. The benchmark for foreign nationals in the typical compared French town: 4.3%. Immigrants make up about one in 16 here (6.1%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 47%, a higher share than 80% 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
The share of single residents is 23%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 26%, a lower share than 67% 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
Arzens has more adults with no qualification than 54% of compared French towns, at 20%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 15th oldest of 41 French towns of 1,174 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Nearby, 2 of 6 towns have older populations than Arzens
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arzens | 48.2 | 25% | 4.2% | 6.1% |
| Bram 3,233 · 5.7 mi | 49.5 | 30% | 2.2% | 5.6% |
| Pennautier 2,895 · 6.3 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 1.5% | 6.3% |
| Carcassonne 46,080 · 7.2 mi | 46.6 | 26% | 6.7% | 14% |
| Villemoustaussou 4,401 · 8.4 mi | 47 | 25% | 1.8% | 6% |
| Palaja 2,722 · 9.2 mi | 46.2 | 22% | 2.5% | 5.8% |
| Limoux 10,532 · 10 mi | 50.3 | 30% | 4.7% | 11% |
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 Arzens
What is the population of Arzens?
1,174 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (1,185).
How old are Arzens’ residents?
The median age is 48.2, older than 75% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Arzens?
28, with occasional dwellings: 4.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Arzens?
INSEE counts 72 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.1% of residents, and 36 foreign nationals (3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Arzens?
€25,100 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.