Photo: Patrick Nouhailler's… · CC BY-SA 3.0Above 91% of compared French towns: 15% of homes are second homes
The share of flats trails 93% of compared French towns: 6.5%. Census day 2023: 3,369 residents and 1,500 households in Salles-d'Aude. For Salles-d'Aude, the census puts households in social housing at 3.1%. Lower than in just over four fifths of compared French towns: 29% of households are one person living alone.
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 Salles-d'Aude
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 290 second homes and occasional dwellings in Salles-d'Aude, 15% of its 1,850 homes: higher than in 91% 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 Salles-d'Aude’s residents are under 50.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.8% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A smaller share of empty homes than 91% of compared French towns: 3.6%
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
7.9% of households arrived within the last two years, while 14% have stayed 30 years or more. Empty homes make up 6.7% in the typical compared French town. Lower than in 87% of compared French towns: 5.1% of households have no car. Car-free households: one in 20, where the median compared French town has 11%.
Faster growth than 72% of compared French towns: Salles-d'Aude changed by +11% since 2012
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
Over those years, the median Aude town changed +4% and the median compared French town +5%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 7.5%, a lower share than 95% 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
■ Salles-d'Aude 50.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Salles-d'Aude’s residents are over 50.7, older than in 85% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 65 and over account for 30%.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A lower share of couples with children than 55% of compared French towns, at 24%
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 2.2 people. The share of couples with children in the typical compared French town is 25%. Nothing unusual on single-parent households: 10%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
A typical living standard of €25,760 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.
Half of Salles-d'Aude’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,760 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 52% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 11.0% of residents.
Salles-d'Aude: 39% of households are headed by a retired person, above 82% 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
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (12%), Salles-d'Aude is below 66% of compared French towns. The share of households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town is 32%. The census found that nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
4.4% of residents are immigrants, below 70% 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.
By its share of foreign nationals (2.6%), Salles-d'Aude is below 70% of compared French towns. On average, 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.
In Salles-d'Aude, 20% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 93% 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: 48%, above 85% of compared French towns. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Fewer adults with no qualification than 76% of compared French towns: 14%
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
Census figures put graduates of higher education at 29% in Salles-d'Aude. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (3,335 to 3,403 people), the 8th 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 36.4 in Saint-Maximin to 64.9 in Saint-Cast-le-Guildo.
Salles-d'Aude sits below 2 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salles-d'Aude | 50.7 | 30% | 15% | 4.4% |
| Fleury 4,246 · 2.7 mi | 57.9 | 38% | 76% | 5.2% |
| Coursan 5,737 · 3 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 3.7% | 5.8% |
| Vinassan 2,662 · 3.2 mi | 48 | 24% | 4.8% | 4.8% |
| Nissan-lez-Enserune 4,124 · 3.4 mi | 47.9 | 26% | 5.7% | 5.6% |
| Lespignan 3,414 · 3.7 mi | 48.6 | 26% | 7% | 5.1% |
| Colombiers 2,814 · 5.3 mi | 53.9 | 32% | 12% | 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 Salles-d'Aude
What is the population of Salles-d'Aude?
3,369 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% more than in 2012 (3,041).
How old are Salles-d'Aude’s residents?
The median age is 50.7, older than 85% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Salles-d'Aude?
290, with occasional dwellings: 15% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Salles-d'Aude?
INSEE counts 150 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.4% of residents, and 87 foreign nationals (2.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Salles-d'Aude?
€25,760 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 11.0% 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 8, 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.