Only 4.3% of homes are flats in Issel
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Issel’s 230 households held 483 residents at the 2023 Census. On the census count, 2.2% of households are single parents. Set against 14% in the typical compared French town, 4.2% of households are headed by a manual worker here.
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 Issel
One home in 10 is a second home
The census counted 27 second homes and occasional dwellings in Issel, 10% of its 270 homes: higher than in 88% of compared French towns. 85% 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 Issel’s residents are under 51.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 27% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 10% of its 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
25% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 7.4% moved in within the last two years. Households without a car are rarer here than in 91% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Empty homes: 4.8%, below 77% of compared French towns.
Slower than most: ±0% since 2012, behind 71% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was +1%; from 2017 to 2023, −1%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Aude town +4%.
Half of Issel is over 51.1, older than 87% 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
■ Issel 51.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.5% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. The census found that 27% of residents are 65 or over in Issel.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
Fewer couples with children than 64% of compared French towns: 22%
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
There are 2.1 people in the average household. For couples with children, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 37%, more than in nearly three fifths of compared French towns.
Half above, half below €23,980 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.
At €23,980 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 72% of compared French towns.
More households headed by a manager or professional than 77% of compared French towns: 15%
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 retired person (35%), Issel is above 66% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Above 69% of compared French towns: 9.6% 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.
Put another way, about one in 19: 5.2% of residents are foreign nationals. As a yardstick, 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.
A smaller share of single residents than 75% of compared French towns: 22%
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
Set against 43% in the typical compared French town, 45% of residents 15 and over are married in Issel. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 36% in Issel, more than in 71% 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
The share of adults with no qualification trails 60% of compared French towns: 17%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 11th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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.
Issel sits below 1 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issel | 51.1 | 27% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Castelnaudary 12,151 · 3.8 mi | 43.9 | 25% | 2.5% | 13% |
| Sorèze 2,965 · 6.6 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 8.9% | 5.8% |
| Revel 9,762 · 6.6 mi | 52.6 | 33% | 3% | 6.1% |
| Bram 3,233 · 10.5 mi | 49.5 | 30% | 2.2% | 5.6% |
| Villefranche-de-Lauragais 5,072 · 13.9 mi | 43.2 | 20% | 1.8% | 5% |
| Puylaurens 3,257 · 14.5 mi | 47.8 | 27% | 6.5% | 4.6% |
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 Issel
What is the population of Issel?
483 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (484).
How old are Issel’s residents?
The median age is 51.1, older than 87% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Issel?
27, with occasional dwellings: 10% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Issel?
INSEE counts 47 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.6% of residents, and 25 foreign nationals (5.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Issel?
€23,980 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.