A median age of 58: Axat is older than 97% of compared French towns
9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, against 4% in Axat. Couples with children: 16% of the total. Fewer flats than in nearly three quarters of compared French towns: 17%. The town counted 479 residents and 240 households at the 2023 Census.
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.
What stands out about the people of Axat
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 180 second homes and occasional dwellings in Axat, 36% of its 490 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 88% 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 Axat’s residents are under 58 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 38% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Axat had 623 residents at the 2012 census and 479 in 2023, down 23%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 69 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 96% of compared French towns: 36% of homes are second homes
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
14% of homes stand empty, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Locally, 15% of households have no car. Few places have so few households in social housing: 12% here, fewer than in just over half of compared French towns.
Since 2012, Axat has changed by −23%, slower than 99% 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
In two steps, −12% to 2017 and −12% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +4% in Aude.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 97% of compared French towns, at 38%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Axat 58. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 5.3%, below 99% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
Axat sits above 67% of compared French towns for one-person households (39%)
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
Against a figure of 10% in the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households in Axat comes in at 8.1%. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town. Households here average 1.9 people each.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €21,070 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.
At €21,070 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 93% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a retired person than 93% of compared French towns, at 45%
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
The figure for households headed by a manual worker is 10% in Axat and 14% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
More immigrants than 82% of compared French towns: 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.
With foreign nationals at 11%, Axat is ahead of 85% of compared French towns on that count. 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.
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
The share of married residents tops 91% of compared French towns: 50%. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
Graduates of higher education: 16%, a lower share than 96% 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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Axat comes in at 29%. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
Of 41 French towns its size (479 to 2,582 people), the 5th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Median age: 1 of the 3 towns around Axat are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Axat
What is the population of Axat?
479 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 23% fewer than in 2012 (623).
How old are Axat’s residents?
The median age is 58, older than 97% of compared French towns. 13% are under 18 and 38% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Axat?
180, with occasional dwellings: 36% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Axat?
INSEE counts 65 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 13% of residents, and 54 foreign nationals (11%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Axat?
€21,070 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.