Older than 97% of compared French towns: half of Gruissan is over 58.6
By its share of households in social housing (3.6%), Gruissan is below 92% of compared French towns. The town counted 5,032 residents and 2,800 households at the 2023 Census. Put another way, about one in two: nearly half of households are headed by a retired person. 0.1% of homes stand empty, fewer 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 Gruissan
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 10,570 second homes and occasional dwellings in Gruissan, 79% of its 13,390 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 40% 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 Gruissan’s residents are under 58.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 38% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.8% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
47% of Gruissan’s households are one person: higher than in 88% of compared French towns; 36% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More second homes than 99% of compared French towns: 79%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of flats is 30%; Gruissan has 52%. Of all households, 14% moved in during the last two years and 9.1% have stayed three decades or more. To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Gruissan grew +9% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 65% 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: +8% from 2012 to 2017, then +1% to 2023.
38% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 97% 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
■ Gruissan 58.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 6.9%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
Gruissan sits below 97% of compared French towns for couples with children (12%)
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
47% of households are one person living alone, against 35% in the typical compared French town. On average, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households account for 8.7%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €23,820 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.
Living standards centre on €23,820 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 74% of compared French towns. 18.0% of the population lives below the poverty line.
Gruissan sits below 84% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (5.1%)
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
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (8%), Gruissan is below 87% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a manager or professional come to 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 64% of compared French towns: 5%
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 median compared commune in Aude has 6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 64% of compared French towns. Typically, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Here, 3% 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.
22% of residents 15 and over are single, below 81% 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
Here, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
In Gruissan, 25% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 69% 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
Adults with no qualification account for 18%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 4,978 to 5,086 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.
At the ends of the range sit Bezannes (31.7), the youngest, and Gruissan (58.6), the oldest.
Gruissan is older than every town around it
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 Gruissan
What is the population of Gruissan?
5,032 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (4,631).
How old are Gruissan’s residents?
The median age is 58.6, older than 97% of compared French towns. 12% are under 18 and 38% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gruissan?
10,570, with occasional dwellings: 79% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gruissan?
INSEE counts 250 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5% of residents, and 150 foreign nationals (3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gruissan?
€23,820 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.