Older than 97% of compared French towns: half of Cailhau is over 58.5
2.3% of homes are flats (typical compared French town: 30%). At the 2023 Census Cailhau was home to 247 people in 120 households. Single-parent households make up about one in 24 here (4.2%). Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% 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.
What stands out about the people of Cailhau
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 40 second homes and occasional dwellings in Cailhau, 23% of its 180 homes: higher than in 94% 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 Cailhau’s residents are under 58.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 42% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.8% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Cailhau had 263 residents at the 2012 census and 247 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 91% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes: 23%, a higher share than 94% 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
With empty homes at 9.2%, Cailhau is ahead of 74% of compared French towns on that count. The usual figure: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Newcomers of less than two years account for nearly one in ten households, residents of 30 years or more for 22%. One in ten households have no car, fewer than in 55% of compared French towns.
Cailhau’s population moved −6% on 2012, less than in 91% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +4% in Aude. Here the change came as +1% to 2017, then −7% to 2023.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 98% of compared French towns, at 42%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Cailhau 58.5. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24; in Cailhau, 6.1%. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Cailhau ranks below 73% of compared French towns on one-person households: 31%
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
Average household size: 2.1 people. For comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Lower than in three fifths of compared French towns: 23% of households are couples with children.
Half above, half below €22,960 a year in standard of living
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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €22,960 a year: lower than in 82% of compared French towns.
Cailhau ranks above 95% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 47%
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
16% of households are headed by a manual worker (typical compared French town: 14%). At the same time, households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The share of households headed by a retired person 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).
Cailhau sits above 83% of compared French towns for immigrants (14%)
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.
Just over one in ten residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 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.
Married residents: 57%, a higher share than 99% 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
By its share of single residents (18%), Cailhau is below 98% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 67% of compared French towns: 25%
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
Adults with no qualification: 22% here and 19% in the typical compared French town. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 247 to 2,582 people, the 4th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Every neighbor is younger than Cailhau
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cailhau | 58.5 | 42% | 23% | 14% |
| Bram 3,233 · 6.9 mi | 49.5 | 30% | 2.2% | 5.6% |
| Limoux 10,532 · 7.4 mi | 50.3 | 30% | 4.7% | 11% |
| Pennautier 2,895 · 11.8 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 1.5% | 6.3% |
| Carcassonne 46,080 · 12.1 mi | 46.6 | 26% | 6.7% | 14% |
| Palaja 2,722 · 13.1 mi | 46.2 | 22% | 2.5% | 5.8% |
| Mirepoix 3,172 · 13.6 mi | 55.1 | 35% | 13% | 10% |
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 Cailhau
What is the population of Cailhau?
247 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (263).
How old are Cailhau’s residents?
The median age is 58.5, older than 97% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 42% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Cailhau?
40, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Cailhau?
INSEE counts 35 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 14% of residents, and 29 foreign nationals (12%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Cailhau?
€22,960 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.