Older than 90% of compared French towns: half of Pézenas is over 52.5
Here 14% of homes stand empty, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 6.7%. Couples with children are rarer here than in 93% of compared French towns. Pézenas had 7,797 residents in 4,030 households at the 2023 census. Households headed by a retired person account for 40%.
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 Pézenas
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 580 second homes and occasional dwellings in Pézenas, 11% of its 5,340 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 64% 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 Pézenas’ residents are under 52.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Pézenas had 8,317 residents at the 2012 census and 7,797 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 91% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
47% of Pézenas’ households are one person: higher than in 89% of compared French towns; 37% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of second homes than 89% of compared French towns: 11%
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
14% of households rent social housing (HLM), against 12% in the typical compared French town. Locally, just over a fifth of households have no car. Few places have as many flats: 51% here, more than in 76% of compared French towns. For comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Pézenas changed by −6% from 2012 to 2023, behind 91% 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 those years, the median Hérault town changed +13% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved ±0%, then −6% to 2023.
32% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 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
■ Pézenas 52.5. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 10% in Pézenas and 11% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 84 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.
Above 89% of compared French towns: 47% of households are one person living alone
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
The average household has 1.9 people. Few places have as many single-parent households: 14% here, more than in 91% of compared French towns. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
At the median, €21,030 a year to live on
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 €21,030 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 93% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 29.0% of residents.
Below 74% of compared French towns: 6.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Pézenas has 11%. Households headed by a manager or professional: 9.4% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
More immigrants than 71% of compared French towns: 10%
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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 6.7% of residents are foreign nationals here. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A smaller share of married residents than 72% of compared French towns: 39%
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 Pézenas, 28% of residents 15 and over are single, beside 25% in the typical compared French town. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Pézenas sits above 71% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (23%)
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
28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 30%. Across the comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 7,700 to 7,897 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 28.3 in Corte to 52.5 in Pézenas.
Every neighbor is younger than Pézenas
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Pézenas
What is the population of Pézenas?
7,797 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (8,317).
How old are Pézenas’ residents?
The median age is 52.5, older than 90% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pézenas?
580, with occasional dwellings: 11% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pézenas?
INSEE counts 800 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 10% of residents, and 530 foreign nationals (6.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pézenas?
€21,030 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 29.0% 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.