In Canet, 1.3% of households rent social housing (HLM), fewer than in 98% of compared French towns
Nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). Few places have so few one-person households: 29% here, fewer than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 1,873 residents in 810 households. Across Canet, 38% of households are headed by a retired person.
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 Canet
Growing fast
Canet had 1,546 residents at the 2012 census and 1,873 in 2023, up 21%: faster growth than in 92% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 120 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.
Since 2012, Canet has grown +21%, faster than 92% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +4% for the median Aude town, the change came in two steps: +15% from 2012 to 2017, then +5% to 2023.
Younger than 54% of compared French towns: half of Canet is under 43.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Canet 43.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Across Canet, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
Canet sits above 76% of compared French towns for couples with children (30%)
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
Single-parent households: 9.2%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town. On average, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. There are 2.3 people in the average household.
A lower share of flats than 97% of compared French towns, at 4.4%
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
Without a car: one household in 15, against 11% in the median compared French town. Compared with other places, second homes are common here: 6.5%, more than in 82% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats. Empty homes account for 12%.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €24,260 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 Canet is €24,260 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 68% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 6.1% in Canet, less than in 75% of compared French towns
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
In Canet, 16% of households are headed by a manual worker, beside 14% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Canet: 6.4% of residents are immigrants
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in just over half of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Aude has 6%. 3.9% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Canet, 20% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 90% 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
Married residents: 45% here and 43% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Canet sits below 67% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (16%)
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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Canet. The comparison figure for adults with no qualification is 19% in the typical compared French town.
The 13th youngest of 41 French towns of 1,873 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).
Canet is younger than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canet | 43.5 | 21% | 6.5% | 6.4% |
| Lézignan-Corbières 10,343 · 4.8 mi | 48.3 | 30% | 3% | 7.8% |
| Sallèles-d'Aude 3,179 · 5.6 mi | 45.8 | 23% | 9.3% | 6.1% |
| Ouveillan 2,713 · 7.6 mi | 44.5 | 25% | 7.3% | 5.8% |
| Cuxac-d'Aude 4,079 · 7.9 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 4% | 5.2% |
| Narbonne 57,587 · 8.5 mi | 46.4 | 27% | 18% | 10% |
| Coursan 5,737 · 10.7 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 3.7% | 5.8% |
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 Canet
What is the population of Canet?
1,873 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 21% more than in 2012 (1,546).
How old are Canet’s residents?
The median age is 43.5, younger than 54% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Canet?
65, with occasional dwellings: 6.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Canet?
INSEE counts 120 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.4% of residents, and 73 foreign nationals (3.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Canet?
€24,260 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.