21% of homes stand empty, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
1.9% of households rent social housing (HLM); in the typical compared French town the figure is 12%. Portes’s 160 households held 320 residents at the 2023 Census. The census found that 6.2% of residents are 15 to 24 here. At 9%, the share of households headed by a manual worker is lower than in 83% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Gard 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 Portes
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 49 second homes and occasional dwellings in Portes, 18% of its 270 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 88% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Portes had 363 residents at the 2012 census and 320 in 2023, down 12%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 57 homes empty (21%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Portes’ residents are under 52.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.2% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 93% of compared French towns: 18% of homes are second homes
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 eight, against 11% in the median compared French town. Set beside that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Roughly one in ten: just over one in ten households have no car. Few places have so few flats: 29% here, fewer than in 52% of compared French towns.
Since 2012, Portes has changed by −12%, 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
The years 2012 to 2017 brought −5%; 2017 to 2023, −7%.
A median age of 52.6: Portes is older than 90% 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
■ Portes 52.6. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over tops 93% of compared French towns: 34%.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Gard 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Fewer couples with children than 83% of compared French towns: 18%
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 Gard median and the France median
Living alone · share
The figure for one-person households is 40% in Portes and 35% in the typical compared French town. Few places have as many single-parent households: 12% here, more than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns. For couples with children, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%. Households here average 2 people each.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €22,190 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 Portes is €22,190 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 87% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 18% in Portes, more than in 85% 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
In the typical compared French town, 32% of households are headed by a retired person; in Portes, 34%. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison 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).
6.5% of residents in Portes are immigrants
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 Gard has 6.6%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in half of compared French towns. Across Portes, 3.4% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer single residents than 71% of compared French towns: 23%
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 come to 42% in Portes, about four in ten. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
More graduates of higher education than 74% of compared French towns: 38%
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 Portes, 15% of adults out of school have no qualification, beside 19% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 320 to 2,582 people: this is 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
2 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Portes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portes | 52.6 | 34% | 18% | 6.5% |
| La Grand-Combe 4,783 · 3 mi | 46.3 | 27% | 1% | 11% |
| Bessèges 2,606 · 3.8 mi | 59.4 | 40% | 9.6% | 4.7% |
| Saint-Julien-les-Rosiers 3,533 · 6.4 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Saint-Martin-de-Valgalgues 4,840 · 6.9 mi | 46.3 | 27% | 0.9% | 9.3% |
| Rousson 4,456 · 7.3 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 1.8% | 4.1% |
| Saint-Ambroix 3,445 · 7.7 mi | 56.1 | 37% | 7.8% | 5% |
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 Portes
What is the population of Portes?
320 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% fewer than in 2012 (363).
How old are Portes’ residents?
The median age is 52.6, older than 90% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Portes?
49, with occasional dwellings: 18% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Portes?
INSEE counts 21 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.5% of residents, and 11 foreign nationals (3.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Portes?
€22,190 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 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.