Photo: VegaLyre · CC BY-SA 4.0In Aurillac, 11% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
71% of homes are flats, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Aurillac counted 26,214 residents and 14,470 households at the 2023 Census. On the census count, 14% of residents are 15 to 24. Few places have as many households without a car: 21% here, more than in 86% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Cantal 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 Aurillac
Many people living alone
55% of Aurillac’s households are one person: higher than in 98% of compared French towns; 39% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 2,360 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −3% since 2012, behind 82% 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 whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Cantal town −3%.
Aurillac is older than 76% of compared French towns: a median age of 48.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Aurillac 48.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 22% in the typical compared French town, 28% of residents are 65 or over here.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cantal 53.4%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Aurillac sits above 98% of compared French towns for one-person households (55%)
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 Cantal median and the France median
Living alone · share
In the typical compared French town, one in ten households are single parents; in Aurillac, 8.2%. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Households average 1.7 people.
Aurillac ranks above 92% of compared French towns on empty homes: 13%
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
Second homes: 4.6%, above 75% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. 18% of households rent social housing (HLM), or about one in six.
A median of €24,630 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 median standard of living in Aurillac is €24,630 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 65% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 18.3% of residents.
11% of households are headed by a manual worker, fewer than in 67% 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 manager or professional is 8%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a retired person: 34% of the total.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
6% of residents are foreign nationals, more than in 64% 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.
The median compared commune in Cantal has 3.9%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 51% of compared French towns. Typically, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Here, 6.7% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 32%, a lower share than 96% 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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 34% of residents 15 and over are single in Aurillac. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
21% of adults out of school have no qualification, a share 58% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, or about one in three. In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (25,081 to 27,332 people), the 5th 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.
The youngest is Grigny (31), the oldest Biarritz (55.2).
1 in 2 nearby towns have a higher median age than Aurillac
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurillac | 48.4 | 28% | 4.6% | 6.7% |
| Arpajon-sur-Cère 6,361 · 2.1 mi | 49.8 | 26% | 4.4% | 2% |
| Ytrac 4,339 · 3.4 mi | 48.3 | 25% | 3.1% | 1.8% |
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 Aurillac
What is the population of Aurillac?
26,214 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (27,074).
How old are Aurillac’s residents?
The median age is 48.4, older than 76% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Aurillac?
820, with occasional dwellings: 4.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Aurillac?
INSEE counts 1,760 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.7% of residents, and 1,570 foreign nationals (6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Aurillac?
€24,630 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.3% 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.