11% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 98% of compared French towns
With households without a car at 21%, Dax is ahead of 84% of compared French towns on that count. At 29%, the share of residents aged 65 and over is higher than in 83% of compared French towns. The town had 22,109 residents in 12,670 households at the 2023 Census. Here, 70% of homes are flats.
Throughout this page, the Landes 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 Dax
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 2,910 second homes and occasional dwellings in Dax, 17% of its 17,340 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 9% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
58% of Dax’s households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 46% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
17% of homes are second homes, more than in 92% of compared French towns
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
One household in five has no car (median compared French town: 11%). Typically, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Census figures put empty homes at 10% in Dax. Compared with other places, households in social housing are common here: 16%, more than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns.
Dax grew +9% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 65% 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 +2%; 2017 to 2023, +7%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Landes town +9%.
A median age of 49.3: Dax is older than 81% 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
■ Dax 49.3. The median compared French town: 44.
In Dax, 12% of residents are 15 to 24, beside 11% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Landes 51.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Dax, 58% of households are one person living alone, more than in 99% 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 Landes median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 1.7 people. Measured more widely, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Nearly one in ten households are single parents, fewer than in 59% of compared French towns.
€23,230 a year: the median 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.
The median standard of living in Dax is €23,230 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 80% of compared French towns. 20.1% of the population lives below the poverty line.
In Dax, 36% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 67% 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
Compared with 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 7% of households are headed by a manager or professional here. 13% of households are headed by a manual worker, or about one in eight. For households headed by a retired person, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
7.8% of residents are foreign nationals, a share 73% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 immigrants is 9.7%, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share higher than in 69% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Landes has 5.4%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 30% in Dax, less than in 98% 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
34% of residents 15 and over are single (typical compared French town: 25%). Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A larger share of adults with no qualification than 66% of compared French towns: 22%
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
Here 28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. The wider picture: 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 21,424 to 22,858 people, the 4th 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.
Loos is the youngest (33); Gujan-Mestras the oldest (52.5).
Older than Dax: 2 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dax | 49.3 | 29% | 17% | 9.7% |
| Saint-Paul-lès-Dax 14,481 · 2 mi | 51.3 | 32% | 10% | 6.6% |
| Narrosse 3,387 · 2.1 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 3% | 7.6% |
| Saint-Vincent-de-Paul 3,402 · 4.6 mi | 47.7 | 24% | 2.8% | 5.2% |
| Pouillon 3,134 · 7.2 mi | 52.3 | 29% | 5.2% | 3% |
| Pontonx-sur-l'Adour 3,021 · 8.5 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 4.4% | 4.1% |
| Saint-Geours-de-Maremne 3,089 · 8.9 mi | 43.8 | 21% | 5.2% | 5.1% |
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 Dax
What is the population of Dax?
22,109 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (20,364).
How old are Dax’s residents?
The median age is 49.3, older than 81% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Dax?
2,910, with occasional dwellings: 17% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Dax?
INSEE counts 2,150 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.7% of residents, and 1,720 foreign nationals (7.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Dax?
€23,230 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 20.1% 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.