Pajay ranks below 99% of compared French towns on households without a car: 2.8%
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 6.4% of homes are flats in Pajay. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 1,036, in 440 households. Single-parent households account for 14%. 5.7% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 79% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Isère 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 Pajay
Fewer residents than in 2012
Pajay had 1,092 residents at the 2012 census and 1,036 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 88% of compared French towns: Pajay changed by −5% since 2012
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
Residents aged 15 to 24: 8.9%, a lower share than 82% 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
■ Pajay 46.3. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 46.3, Pajay is older than nearly two thirds of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Isère 51.3%, France 51.8%.
25% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 95% 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 Isère median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.4 people on average. The usual figure: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Pajay has more couples with children than 62% of compared French towns, at 27%.
Below 67% of compared French towns: 8.6% of households rent social housing (HLM)
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
Where 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, Pajay has 8.2%. In the typical compared French town, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM). Turnover: nearly one in ten households moved in less than two years ago, and 28% have lived in their home 30 years or more. At 1.8%, the share of second homes is lower than in 54% of compared French towns.
Half above, half below €25,430 a year in standard of living
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 Pajay’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,430 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 55% of compared French towns.
Pajay: 21% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 88% 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
The share of households headed by a retired person is 25%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. On average, 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 smaller share of immigrants than 83% of compared French towns: 2.8%
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 share of foreign nationals trails four fifths of compared French towns: 1.9%. As a reference point, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
Fewer single residents than 84% of compared French towns: 21%
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
45% of residents 15 and over are married (typical compared French town: 43%). The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 88% of compared French towns, at 19%
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
21% of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 18th oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
A younger town than 3 of the 6 around it: Pajay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pajay | 46.3 | 22% | 1.8% | 2.8% |
| Beaurepaire 5,010 · 4.2 mi | 46.3 | 28% | 2% | 9.5% |
| Saint-Siméon-de-Bressieux 3,186 · 6.5 mi | 44.2 | 24% | 2.6% | 8.6% |
| La Côte-Saint-André 4,873 · 6.6 mi | 46.7 | 27% | 3.4% | 12% |
| Saint-Jean-de-Bournay 4,843 · 9.9 mi | 47.2 | 28% | 1.5% | 3% |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Saint-Geoirs 3,425 · 10.3 mi | 43 | 23% | 4.4% | 6.8% |
| Anneyron 4,169 · 13.3 mi | 46 | 24% | 2.6% | 2.3% |
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 Pajay
What is the population of Pajay?
1,036 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (1,092).
How old are Pajay’s residents?
The median age is 46.3, older than 65% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pajay?
9, with occasional dwellings: 1.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pajay?
INSEE counts 29 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.8% of residents, and 20 foreign nationals (1.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pajay?
€25,430 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.