A lower share of households without a car than 99% of compared French towns, at 2.7%
Empty homes are rarer here than in 97% of compared French towns. Just over a fifth of households are one person living alone. Palaja is home to 2,722 residents in 1,150 households, by the 2023 Census. Where 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Palaja has 8.3%.
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 Palaja
Growing fast
Palaja had 2,146 residents at the 2012 census and 2,722 in 2023, up 27%: faster growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A +27% change since 2012: Palaja grew faster 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
The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Aude town +4%. The change was +10% from 2012 to 2017 and +15% from 2017 to 2023.
Half of Palaja is over 46.2, older than 65% 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
■ Palaja 46.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Put another way, about one in five: 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
Palaja: 30% of households are couples with children, above 78% 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
On average, 2.4 people share a household. Measured more widely, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few single-parent households: 7.9% here, fewer than in just over four fifths of compared French towns.
Palaja sits below 99% of compared French towns for flats (2.7%)
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
Households that moved in under two years ago: 12%. Those in their home 30 years or more: 23%. Palaja has fewer households in social housing than 95% of compared French towns, at 2.7%. On second homes, 2.5% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town.
€27,800 a year is the median standard of living here
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.
Half of residents live in households above €27,800 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 69% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 8.0%.
8.3% of households are headed by a manual worker, below 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
13% of households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%). Put another way, about one in three: just over a third of households are headed by a retired person. The benchmark for households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town: 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Palaja ranks below 69% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 2.7%
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 56% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Aude has 6%. Against that, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. For Palaja, the census puts immigrants at 5.8%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents make up 18% in Palaja, less than in 98% 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
Against a figure of 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Palaja comes in at 53%. As a yardstick, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Only 10% of adults out of school have no qualification in Palaja
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
Graduates of higher education: 39% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 2,687 to 2,756 people, the 20th 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.
Trieux is the youngest (37.7); Bagnoles de l'Orne Normandie the oldest (61.9).
Median age: 5 of the 6 towns around Palaja 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palaja | 46.2 | 22% | 2.5% | 5.8% |
| Carcassonne 46,080 · 3.4 mi | 46.6 | 26% | 6.7% | 14% |
| Trèbes 5,361 · 3.8 mi | 50.2 | 30% | 3.4% | 12% |
| Villemoustaussou 4,401 · 5.7 mi | 47 | 25% | 1.8% | 6% |
| Pennautier 2,895 · 6.1 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 1.5% | 6.3% |
| Conques-sur-Orbiel 2,523 · 6.7 mi | 46.8 | 27% | 3.9% | 6.2% |
| Limoux 10,532 · 11.8 mi | 50.3 | 30% | 4.7% | 11% |
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 Palaja
What is the population of Palaja?
2,722 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 27% more than in 2012 (2,146).
How old are Palaja’s residents?
The median age is 46.2, older than 65% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Palaja?
30, with occasional dwellings: 2.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Palaja?
INSEE counts 160 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.8% of residents, and 74 foreign nationals (2.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Palaja?
€27,800 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 8.0% 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 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.