Older than 97% of compared French towns: half of Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers is over 58.3
4.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%). Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers is home to 441 residents in 240 households, by the 2023 Census. Here, 14% of households are couples with children. At 4.1%, the share of households in social housing is lower than in 90% 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 Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 81 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers, 23% of its 360 homes: higher than in 94% 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 ↓
An older town
Half of Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers’ residents are under 58.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.7% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers had 494 residents at the 2012 census and 441 in 2023, down 11%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
23% 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
Without a car: one household in 10, against 11% in the median compared French town. To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. About one in 12: that is how common flats are in Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers (8.2%). Empty homes are more common here than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns.
Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers changed by −11% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 98% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +4% in Aude. Here the change came as −12% to 2017, then +1% to 2023.
5.3% of residents are 15 to 24, below 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
■ Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers 58.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Here a third of residents are 65 or over, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 22%. Set beside that, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
46% of households are one person living alone, a share 87% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Households average 1.8 people. Measured more widely, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers has fewer single-parent households than 77% of compared French towns, at 8.3%.
A median standard of living of €20,400 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 Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers is €20,400 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 95% of compared French towns.
Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers: 21% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 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
The share of households headed by a retired person is 38%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. For households headed by a manual worker, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers sits above 73% of compared French towns for immigrants (11%)
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 share of foreign nationals is 7.7%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. 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.
44% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 54% 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
The census found that 26% of residents 15 and over are single in Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Adults with no qualification: 29%, a higher share than 89% 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, just over a fifth of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers. The wider picture: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 4th oldest of 41 French towns of 441 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
1 of 4 neighbors are older than Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers
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 Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers
What is the population of Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers?
441 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% fewer than in 2012 (494).
How old are Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers’ residents?
The median age is 58.3, older than 97% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers?
81, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers?
INSEE counts 47 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 34 foreign nationals (7.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Colombe-sur-l'Hers?
€20,400 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 9, 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.