Half of Colombières-sur-Orb is over 57.6, older than 97% of compared French towns
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 4% of homes are flats here. At the 2023 Census, 498 people lived in Colombières-sur-Orb, in 250 households. Across Colombières-sur-Orb, 1.9% of homes stand empty. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Hérault 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 Colombières-sur-Orb
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 110 second homes and occasional dwellings in Colombières-sur-Orb, 30% of its 370 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 99% 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 Colombières-sur-Orb’s residents are under 57.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 37% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of second homes than 95% of compared French towns: 30%
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
Long tenure is the mark of 25% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 9.4% (under two years). 6.2% of households have no car, a lower share than in 78% of compared French towns. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%.
Colombières-sur-Orb’s population changed by +6% since 2012, more than in 54% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Hérault town +13%. The first five years brought +2%; the six to 2023, +4%.
Colombières-sur-Orb ranks above 96% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 37%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Colombières-sur-Orb 57.6. The median compared French town: 44.
In Colombières-sur-Orb, 7% of residents are 15 to 24, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Colombières-sur-Orb, 5.9% of households are single parents, fewer than in 96% 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 Hérault median and the France median
Living alone · share
Here 37% of households are one person living alone, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 35%. At 20%, the share of couples with children is lower than in nearly three quarters of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, single-parent households come to 10%. Households average 2 people.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €24,470 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.
At €24,470 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 66% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manual worker than 88% of compared French towns, at 7.8%
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
Set against 32% in the typical compared French town, 39% of households are headed by a retired person in Colombières-sur-Orb. Put another way, about one in 13: 7.8% of households are headed by a manager or professional. The wider picture: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A larger share of foreign nationals than 80% of compared French towns: 9.3%
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 Hérault has 6.8%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 73% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals. The share of immigrants stands at 11%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Colombières-sur-Orb ranks below 94% of compared French towns on single residents: 20%
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
In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married; in Colombières-sur-Orb, 44%. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Only 12% of adults out of school have no qualification in Colombières-sur-Orb
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
With graduates of higher education at 36%, Colombières-sur-Orb is ahead of 71% of compared French towns on that count. For comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 498 to 2,582 people: this is 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Colombières-sur-Orb
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colombières-sur-Orb | 57.6 | 37% | 30% | 11% |
| Bédarieux 5,804 · 7.9 mi | 52.4 | 31% | 7.4% | 8.2% |
| Murviel-lès-Béziers 3,000 · 11.6 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 7.6% | 6.4% |
| Magalas 3,582 · 12.9 mi | 46.8 | 26% | 18% | 6.4% |
| Cazouls-lès-Béziers 5,261 · 13.6 mi | 43.4 | 23% | 6% | 5% |
| Thézan-lès-Béziers 3,124 · 13.7 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 13% | 6.5% |
| Puisserguier 3,078 · 14.6 mi | 51.2 | 29% | 8.6% | 7.4% |
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 Colombières-sur-Orb
What is the population of Colombières-sur-Orb?
498 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (471).
How old are Colombières-sur-Orb’s residents?
The median age is 57.6, older than 97% of compared French towns. 13% are under 18 and 37% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Colombières-sur-Orb?
110, with occasional dwellings: 30% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Colombières-sur-Orb?
INSEE counts 53 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 46 foreign nationals (9.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Colombières-sur-Orb?
€24,470 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.