Older than 92% of compared French towns: half of Pailherols is over 53.7
Where nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, Pailherols has 14%. This Cantal town had 143 residents in 70 households at the 2023 Census. About one in 11: that is how common flats are in Pailherols (9.2%). Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% 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 Pailherols
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 39 second homes and occasional dwellings in Pailherols, 33% of its 120 homes: higher than in 95% 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 Pailherols’ residents are under 53.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Pailherols, 33% of homes are second homes, more than in 95% 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
Households that moved in under two years ago: 14%. Those in their home 30 years or more: 24%. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. More empty homes than in 74% of compared French towns: 9.2%. At the same time, with households without a car at 7.1%, Pailherols is behind 72% of compared French towns on that count.
Pailherols’s population moved +4% on 2012, less than in 52% 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
The years 2012 to 2017 brought −7%; 2017 to 2023, +13%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Cantal town −3%.
Pailherols ranks below 99% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 6.3%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Pailherols 53.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 29% here and 22% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 113 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cantal 53.4%, France 51.8%.
Pailherols sits below 93% of compared French towns for couples with children (14%)
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, the share of single-parent households is 10%; Pailherols has 7.1%. Across the comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2 people.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €28,080 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 midpoint of living standards here is €28,080 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 71% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 67% of compared French towns: 7.1%
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
14% of households are headed by a manual worker, or about one in seven. Elsewhere, 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).
Only 2.8% of residents are immigrants in Pailherols
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.
In Pailherols, 1.4% of residents are foreign nationals, beside 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 84% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Cantal has 3.9%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 74% of compared French towns: 46%
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
Put another way, about one in four: 24% of residents 15 and over are single. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 86% of compared French towns: 20%
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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Pailherols comes in at 17%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 143 to 2,582 people: this is the 7th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as old as Pailherols
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pailherols | 53.7 | 29% | 33% | 2.8% |
| Arpajon-sur-Cère 6,361 · 11.3 mi | 49.8 | 26% | 4.4% | 2% |
| Aurillac 26,214 · 12.3 mi | 48.4 | 28% | 4.6% | 6.7% |
| Ytrac 4,339 · 15.6 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 Pailherols
What is the population of Pailherols?
143 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (137).
How old are Pailherols’ residents?
The median age is 53.7, older than 92% of compared French towns. 9.8% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pailherols?
39, with occasional dwellings: 33% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pailherols?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.8% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pailherols?
€28,080 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.