Orsans ranks below 99% of compared French towns on couples with children: 11%
4.7% of households rent social housing (HLM), against 12% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census, 87 people lived in Orsans, in 43 households. Locally, 8.9% of homes are flats. Households headed by a manual worker are rarer here than in 70% 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 Orsans
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 8 second homes and occasional dwellings in Orsans, 14% of its 56 homes: higher than in 91% of compared French towns. 88% 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
Orsans had 95 residents at the 2012 census and 87 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Orsans’ residents are under 51.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 18% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 4.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes make up 14% in Orsans, more than in 91% of compared French towns
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
Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 9.3% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 30%. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Higher than in 72% of compared French towns: 8.9% of homes stand empty. One household in nine has no car (median compared French town: 11%).
A −8% change since 2012: slower than 95% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Aude town +4%. The first five years brought +9%; the six to 2023, −16%.
Orsans is older than 87% of compared French towns: a median age of 51.2
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Orsans 51.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Orsans has 18%. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 8% in the town.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 44%, a higher share than 82% 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
One in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town, against 11% in Orsans. Households here average 2 people each. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of households headed by a manager or professional than 91% of compared French towns, at 22%
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
A third of households are headed by a retired person. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
5.7% of residents are foreign nationals, a share 62% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 56% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up about one in 18 here (5.7%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 32% in Orsans, less than in 95% 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
In the typical compared French town, 25% of residents 15 and over are single; in Orsans, 22%. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Adults with no qualification: 9.7%, a lower share than 96% 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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, a quarter of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Orsans. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (87 to 2,582 people), the 11th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Of the 6 towns nearest Orsans, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orsans | 51.2 | 18% | 14% | 5.7% |
| Mirepoix 3,172 · 7 mi | 55.1 | 35% | 13% | 10% |
| Bram 3,233 · 9.1 mi | 49.5 | 30% | 2.2% | 5.6% |
| Castelnaudary 12,151 · 11 mi | 43.9 | 25% | 2.5% | 13% |
| Limoux 10,532 · 14.2 mi | 50.3 | 30% | 4.7% | 11% |
| Mazères 3,852 · 16.1 mi | 44.9 | 24% | 5.3% | 4.5% |
| La Tour-du-Crieu 3,230 · 16.6 mi | 44.8 | 23% | 1.3% | 6.3% |
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 Orsans
What is the population of Orsans?
87 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (95).
How old are Orsans’ residents?
The median age is 51.2, older than 87% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Orsans?
8, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Orsans?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.7% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (5.7%). 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.