Half of Paraza is over 52.8, older than 90% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Paraza was home to 700 people in 320 households. In Paraza, 4.7% of households are single parents. Compared with 32% in the typical compared French town, nearly two in five households are headed by a retired person 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 Paraza
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 120 second homes and occasional dwellings in Paraza, 25% of its 500 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 97% 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 Paraza’s residents are under 52.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Paraza, 25% of homes are second homes, more than in 94% 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
In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats; in Paraza, 3.6%. On households without a car, Paraza sits lower than 78% of compared French towns: 6.3%. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Empty homes come to 11% here, about one in ten.
A growing town: +6% since 2012, faster than 55% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +4% for the median Aude town, the change came in two steps: −6% from 2012 to 2017, then +13% to 2023.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 6.1%, a lower share than 99% 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
■ Paraza 52.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 31%, above 88% of compared French towns. For comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 29%, a lower 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
On average, 2.2 people share a household. Paraza has fewer couples with children than 65% of compared French towns, at 22%. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
€23,370 a year: the median 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.
Half of residents live in households above €23,370 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
Below 86% of compared French towns: 4.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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
With households headed by a manual worker at 17%, Paraza is ahead of 69% of compared French towns on that count. As a yardstick, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Paraza sits above 70% of compared French towns for immigrants (10%)
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.
7.3% of residents are foreign nationals (typical compared French town: 4.3%). Elsewhere, 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.
Single residents make up 17% in Paraza, less than in 99% 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
Married residents: 54%, above 98% of compared French towns. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 26% in Paraza, less than in 66% 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
20% of adults out of school have no qualification, a higher share than in 56% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 8th 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.
Every neighbor is younger than Paraza
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paraza | 52.8 | 31% | 25% | 10% |
| Lézignan-Corbières 10,343 · 5.1 mi | 48.3 | 30% | 3% | 7.8% |
| Sallèles-d'Aude 3,179 · 5.9 mi | 45.8 | 23% | 9.3% | 6.1% |
| Ouveillan 2,713 · 7.5 mi | 44.5 | 25% | 7.3% | 5.8% |
| Cuxac-d'Aude 4,079 · 8.6 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 4% | 5.2% |
| Narbonne 57,587 · 10 mi | 46.4 | 27% | 18% | 10% |
| Coursan 5,737 · 11.6 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 3.7% | 5.8% |
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 Paraza
What is the population of Paraza?
700 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (661).
How old are Paraza’s residents?
The median age is 52.8, older than 90% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Paraza?
120, with occasional dwellings: 25% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Paraza?
INSEE counts 70 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 10% of residents, and 51 foreign nationals (7.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Paraza?
€23,370 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.