Above 99% of compared French towns: 69% of homes are second homes
Empty homes: 1.9%, below 98% of compared French towns. Residents aged 65 and over make up about one in three here (36%). At 15%, the share of households without a car is higher than in 71% 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 Mérial
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 34 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mérial, 69% of its 50 homes: higher than in 99% 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 ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Mérial’s households are one person: higher than in 94% of compared French towns; 56% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
One home in two in Mérial is a second home
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
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Car-free households: one in seven, where the median compared French town has 11%.
From 2012 to 2023, 70% of compared French towns grew faster than Mérial: ±0%
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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +11%, then −10% to 2023. Over those years, the median Aude town changed +4% and the median compared French town +5%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 12%, a higher share than 75% 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
■ Mérial 44.5. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 44.5, Mérial is older than 53% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 79 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 50% in Mérial, more than in 94% 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
Couples with children are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, just over a third of households are one person living alone. There are 1.9 people in the average household.
The largest group of households: craftspeople, shopkeepers, business owners (100%)
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.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
4% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 73% of compared French towns
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 73% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Foreign nationals make up about one in 25 here (4%).
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 married residents than 99% of compared French towns: 19%
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
The share of single residents tops 89% of compared French towns: 33%. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
26% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 82% 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
In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in Mérial, 26%. On average, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 16th youngest 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.
Mérial is younger 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 Mérial
What is the population of Mérial?
28 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (28).
How old are Mérial’s residents?
The median age is 44.5, older than 53% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mérial?
34, with occasional dwellings: 69% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mérial?
INSEE counts 1 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.