Older than 95% of compared French towns: half of Les Brunels is over 56.1
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Les Brunels had 268 residents in 130 households at the 2023 census. Census figures put households without a car at 3.2% locally. Compared with 10% in the typical compared French town, a fifth of households are single parents 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 Les Brunels
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 54 second homes and occasional dwellings in Les Brunels, 28% of its 190 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 94% 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 Les Brunels’ residents are under 56.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.3% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More second homes than 95% of compared French towns: 28%
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
Where 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, Les Brunels has 12%. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%. Census figures put empty homes at 4.7% locally.
Les Brunels grew +7% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 58% 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 population moved +9%, and from 2017 to 2023 −2%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Aude town +4%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 91% of compared French towns: 33%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Les Brunels 56.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in Les Brunels. Elsewhere, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 83 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.
A smaller share of one-person households than 64% of compared French towns: 33%
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
Couples with children: 23% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.1 people. The benchmark for one-person households in the typical compared French town: 35%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €25,500 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 Les Brunels is €25,500 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 54% of compared French towns.
24% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 86% 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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Against that, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. About one in six: that is how common households headed by a manual worker are in Les Brunels (16%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 85% of compared French towns: 2.6%
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 figure for foreign nationals is 2.3% in Les Brunels and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer single residents than 77% 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
By its share of married residents (41%), Les Brunels is below nearly two thirds of compared French towns. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Adults with no qualification: 14%, a lower share than 77% 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
38% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, against 30% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 268 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Les Brunels
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Brunels | 56.1 | 33% | 28% | 2.6% |
| Sorèze 2,965 · 2.5 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 8.9% | 5.8% |
| Revel 9,762 · 3.7 mi | 52.6 | 33% | 3% | 6.1% |
| Castelnaudary 12,151 · 8.1 mi | 43.9 | 25% | 2.5% | 13% |
| Soual 2,637 · 10.4 mi | 45.3 | 25% | 1.7% | 4.2% |
| Puylaurens 3,257 · 11.1 mi | 47.8 | 27% | 6.5% | 4.6% |
| Bram 3,233 · 12.4 mi | 49.5 | 30% | 2.2% | 5.6% |
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 Les Brunels
What is the population of Les Brunels?
268 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (251).
How old are Les Brunels’ residents?
The median age is 56.1, older than 95% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Les Brunels?
54, with occasional dwellings: 28% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Les Brunels?
INSEE counts 7 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.6% of residents, and 6 foreign nationals (2.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Les Brunels?
€25,500 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.