A smaller share of households without a car than 99% of compared French towns: 1.3%
Where 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, Gaja-la-Selve has 3.8%. Its 74 households held 134 residents at the 2023 Census. 6.6% of residents are 15 to 24, or about one in 15. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 47%, more than in 88% 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 Gaja-la-Selve
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 21 second homes and occasional dwellings in Gaja-la-Selve, 20% of its 110 homes: higher than in 93% 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 ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Gaja-la-Selve had 141 residents at the 2012 census and 134 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 93% of compared French towns: 20% 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
Long tenure is the mark of 28% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 5.3% (under two years). The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Empty homes make up 9.6%, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town.
Gaja-la-Selve changed by −5% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 88% 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, +1% to 2017 and −6% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +4% in Aude.
A median age of 50: Gaja-la-Selve is older than 83% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Gaja-la-Selve 50. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 22%; Gaja-la-Selve has 28%.
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 116 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
Fewer couples with children than 74% of compared French towns: 20%
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: 1.8 people. Couples with children: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €19,660 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 €19,660 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 97% of compared French towns.
Gaja-la-Selve ranks above 83% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 40%
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 the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker; in Gaja-la-Selve, 20%. By way of comparison, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manager or professional make up about one in 15 here (6.7%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Gaja-la-Selve sits above 80% of compared French towns for foreign nationals (9.6%)
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 share of immigrants is 11%, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. That is higher than in three quarters of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Aude has 6%. For comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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: 34%, a lower share than 92% 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 (28%), Gaja-la-Selve is above 70% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Gaja-la-Selve ranks below 76% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 15%
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 Gaja-la-Selve, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. To put it in context, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 14th oldest of 41 French towns of 134 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Median age: 1 of the 6 towns around Gaja-la-Selve are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaja-la-Selve | 50 | 28% | 20% | 11% |
| Mirepoix 3,172 · 7.3 mi | 55.1 | 35% | 13% | 10% |
| Castelnaudary 12,151 · 9 mi | 43.9 | 25% | 2.5% | 13% |
| Mazères 3,852 · 11.4 mi | 44.9 | 24% | 5.3% | 4.5% |
| Bram 3,233 · 11.6 mi | 49.5 | 30% | 2.2% | 5.6% |
| La Tour-du-Crieu 3,230 · 13.6 mi | 44.8 | 23% | 1.3% | 6.3% |
| Pamiers 16,473 · 15 mi | 39.8 | 21% | 2.7% | 13% |
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 Gaja-la-Selve
What is the population of Gaja-la-Selve?
134 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (141).
How old are Gaja-la-Selve’s residents?
The median age is 50, older than 83% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gaja-la-Selve?
21, with occasional dwellings: 20% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gaja-la-Selve?
INSEE counts 15 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 13 foreign nationals (9.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gaja-la-Selve?
€19,660 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 9, 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.