Gabian is older than 92% of compared French towns: a median age of 53.7
Households headed by a retired person: 41% here and 32% in the typical compared French town. More second homes than in 87% of compared French towns: 9.2%. Gabian had 886 residents in 430 households at the 2023 Census. For Gabian, the census puts flats at 11%.
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 Gabian
An older town
Half of Gabian’s residents are under 53.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 130 homes empty (21%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A growing town: +7% since 2012, faster than 60% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved +2%, and from 2017 to 2023 +5%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Hérault town +13%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 88% of compared French towns: 31%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Gabian 53.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Gabian comes in at 8.4%. On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over 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: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
21% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 71% 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 just over one in ten households are single parents, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 10%. For Gabian, the census puts one-person households at 33%. On average, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of empty homes than 99% of compared French towns, at 21%
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
With households in social housing at 6.6%, Gabian is behind 79% of compared French towns on that count. 10% of households have no car, a lower share than in 54% of compared French towns. On average, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Turnover: 13% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 16% have lived in their home 30 years or more.
Median standard of living: €22,230 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.
Half of residents live in households above €22,230 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 87% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 99% of compared French towns: 2.3%
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
Households headed by a manual worker make up about one in seven here (14%). By way of comparison, 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).
Gabian: 8.7% of residents are immigrants, above 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.
Where 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Gabian has 5.4%. Immigrants make up 6.5% in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents make up 21% in Gabian, less than in 86% 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
Married residents: 47%, above 75% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 25% of residents 15 and over are single.
Below 74% of compared French towns: 23% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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
Across Gabian, 18% of adults out of school have no qualification. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 886 to 2,582 people, 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Gabian is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabian | 53.7 | 31% | 9.2% | 8.7% |
| Magalas 3,582 · 3.9 mi | 46.8 | 26% | 18% | 6.4% |
| Caux 2,718 · 4.8 mi | 52 | 28% | 18% | 8% |
| Servian 5,517 · 6.3 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 5.9% | 6.5% |
| Murviel-lès-Béziers 3,000 · 8.2 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 7.6% | 6.4% |
| Pézenas 7,797 · 8.3 mi | 52.5 | 32% | 11% | 10% |
| Thézan-lès-Béziers 3,124 · 8.5 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 13% | 6.5% |
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 Gabian
What is the population of Gabian?
886 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (827).
How old are Gabian’s residents?
The median age is 53.7, older than 92% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gabian?
57, with occasional dwellings: 9.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gabian?
INSEE counts 77 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.7% of residents, and 48 foreign nationals (5.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gabian?
€22,230 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.