Second homes make up 36% in Gastes, more than in 96% of compared French towns
Where 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, Gastes has 0.5%. 4.5% of households are single parents, a lower share than in 99% of compared French towns. There were 440 households locally at the 2023 Census, home to 925 residents. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 6.9%.
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 Gastes
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 270 second homes and occasional dwellings in Gastes, 36% of its 740 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 66% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Gastes had 627 residents at the 2012 census and 925 in 2023, up 48%: faster growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Below 99% of compared French towns: 2.1% of homes are flats
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
Car-free households: one in 19, where the median compared French town has 11%. About one in 28: that is how common empty homes are in Gastes (3.6%). On households without a car, Gastes sits lower than 86% of compared French towns: 5.3%. Across the comparison, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
From 2012 to 2023, Gastes outgrew 99% of compared French towns: +48%
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
In two steps, +30% to 2017 and +13% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +9% in Landes.
Half of Gastes is over 49.9, older than 83% 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
■ Gastes 49.9. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 22%; Gastes has 24%.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Landes 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Below 60% of compared French towns: 23% of households are couples with children
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
The typical household size is 2.1 people. One-person households: just over a third of the total. The comparison figure for couples with children is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €24,710 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 €24,710 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 64% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manager or professional than 79% of compared French towns, at 5.7%
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 14% in the typical compared French town, 16% of households are headed by a manual worker here. A third of households are headed by a retired person, or about one in three. In the typical compared French town, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
5.9% of Gastes’ residents are immigrants
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 55% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Landes has 5.4%. The census found that 4.8% of residents are foreign nationals in Gastes.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
18% of residents 15 and over are single, below 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
Where 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, Gastes has 49%. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Graduates of higher education make up 23% in Gastes, less than in 77% of compared French towns
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
Adults with no qualification: 17% here and 19% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (925 to 2,582 people), the 14th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Nearby, 2 of 5 towns have older populations than Gastes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gastes | 49.9 | 24% | 36% | 5.9% |
| Parentis-en-Born 7,586 · 4.3 mi | 46.8 | 25% | 14% | 5.1% |
| Biscarrosse 15,836 · 5.9 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 38% | 4.9% |
| Mimizan 7,673 · 9.3 mi | 56.3 | 36% | 47% | 6.4% |
| Sanguinet 4,741 · 11.9 mi | 48.6 | 26% | 18% | 2.8% |
| Labouheyre 2,906 · 13.6 mi | 47.3 | 26% | 5.3% | 16% |
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 Gastes
What is the population of Gastes?
925 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 48% more than in 2012 (627).
How old are Gastes’ residents?
The median age is 49.9, older than 83% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gastes?
270, with occasional dwellings: 36% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gastes?
INSEE counts 55 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.9% of residents, and 45 foreign nationals (4.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gastes?
€24,710 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 9, 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.