Photo: Jacques Le Letty · CC BY-SA 4.0A larger share of second homes than 92% of compared French towns: 17%
Households headed by a retired person make up 42%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.5% in Sigean. Flats are rarer here than in 77% of compared French towns. The town had 5,657 residents in 2,770 households at the 2023 census.
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 Sigean
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 620 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sigean, 17% of its 3,730 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 53% 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 Sigean’s residents are under 51.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% 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.
5.4% of households rent social housing (HLM), fewer than in 85% 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
The figure for empty homes is 9% in Sigean and 6.7% in the typical compared French town. At the same time, at 8.9%, the share of households without a car is lower than in 60% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
Since 2012, Sigean has changed by +3%, slower than 56% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Aude town +4%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was ±0%; from 2017 to 2023, +3%.
Older than 87% of compared French towns: half of Sigean is over 51.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Sigean 51.4. The median compared French town: 44.
In Sigean, 30% of residents are 65 or over, beside 22% in the typical compared French town.
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.
19% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 76% 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
The figure for one-person households is 37% in Sigean and 35% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%. On the census count, 8.3% of households are single parents.
The median resident lives on €23,520 a year per consumption unit
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 midpoint of living standards here is €23,520 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 77% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 18.0% of residents.
Sigean ranks below 93% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 4%
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
For Sigean, the census puts households headed by a manual worker at 14%. The share of households headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals make up 2.5% in Sigean, less than in 72% 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.
Immigrants make up 5.1%, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. That is lower than in 62% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Aude has 6%. The benchmark for foreign nationals in the typical compared French town: 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 21% of residents 15 and over are single in Sigean
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
Compared with 43% in the typical compared French town, 46% of residents 15 and over are married here. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
24% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 72% 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
In the typical compared French town, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification; in Sigean, 21%. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 5,608 to 5,705 people: this is the 4th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Valdahon (35.2), the youngest, and Cancale (57.6), the oldest.
Around Sigean, 3 of 6 towns have a higher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sigean | 51.4 | 30% | 17% | 5.1% |
| Port-la-Nouvelle 5,852 · 3.6 mi | 54.7 | 36% | 57% | 5.7% |
| Gruissan 5,032 · 8.6 mi | 58.6 | 38% | 79% | 5% |
| Narbonne 57,587 · 10.7 mi | 46.4 | 27% | 18% | 10% |
| Leucate 4,562 · 10.7 mi | 63 | 46% | 84% | 6.4% |
| Vinassan 2,662 · 13.2 mi | 48 | 24% | 4.8% | 4.8% |
| Salses-le-Château 3,965 · 13.9 mi | 42.2 | 23% | 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 Sigean
What is the population of Sigean?
5,657 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (5,476).
How old are Sigean’s residents?
The median age is 51.4, older than 87% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sigean?
620, with occasional dwellings: 17% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sigean?
INSEE counts 290 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.1% of residents, and 140 foreign nationals (2.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sigean?
€23,520 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% 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.