Half of Espéraza is over 57.4, older than 97% of compared French towns
The share of households headed by a retired person is 46%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. 7.7% of homes are second homes, more than in 85% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Espéraza was home to 1,774 people in 970 households. The census found that nearly a fifth of households have no car in the town.
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 Espéraza
An older town
Half of Espéraza’s residents are under 57.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 37% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Espéraza had 2,044 residents at the 2012 census and 1,774 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
52% of Espéraza’s households are one person: higher than in 96% of compared French towns; 39% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 300 homes empty (22%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A −13% change since 2012: 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
The median Aude town changed +4% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −9% and the next six −5%.
Espéraza ranks above 96% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 37%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Espéraza 57.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 7.1% of residents are 15 to 24 here. As a yardstick, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 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.
In Espéraza, 13% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 96% 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
By its share of one-person households (52%), Espéraza is above 96% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%. Locally, 7% of households are single parents.
Espéraza sits above 99% of compared French towns for empty homes (22%)
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
Here just over a fifth of homes are flats, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. Compared with other places, households in social housing are scarce here: 6.6%, fewer than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns. Empty homes make up 6.7% in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €19,930 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.
Half of Espéraza’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €19,930 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 97% of compared French towns.
4.7% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 88% 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
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Espéraza has 7%. As a reference point, 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).
Above 79% of compared French towns: 12% 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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Espéraza, 9.7%. Across the comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Aude has 6%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 79% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of married residents than 85% of compared French towns, at 37%
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
Single residents make up 28%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Espéraza sits below 85% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (20%)
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
In the typical compared French town, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification; in Espéraza, 23%. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,774 to 2,582 people: this is 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Median age: 1 of the 2 towns around Espéraza 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 Espéraza
What is the population of Espéraza?
1,774 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (2,044).
How old are Espéraza’s residents?
The median age is 57.4, older than 97% of compared French towns. 13% are under 18 and 37% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Espéraza?
110, with occasional dwellings: 7.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Espéraza?
INSEE counts 220 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 12% of residents, and 170 foreign nationals (9.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Espéraza?
€19,930 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.