Fewer flats than 99% of compared French towns: 2.6%
In the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households is 10%; Irai has 15%. 6.9% of households rent social housing (HLM), or about one in 14. At 19%, the share of households headed by a manual worker is higher than in 79% of compared French towns. This Orne town had 603 residents in 260 households at the 2023 census.
Throughout this page, the Orne 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 Irai
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 68 second homes and occasional dwellings in Irai, 20% of its 350 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 99% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Irai, 20% of homes are second homes, more than in 93% 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
Set against 6.7% in the typical compared French town, 5.5% of homes stand empty in Irai. Against that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Households without a car account for 5%.
Slower growth than 55% of compared French towns: Irai changed by +4% 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
Over those years, the median Orne town changed −5% and the median compared French town +5%.
In Irai, 7.6% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 95% 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
■ Irai 42.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Irai’s residents are under 42.3, younger than in 63% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in five: 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
26% of households are one person living alone, below 90% 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 Orne median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2.3 people in the average household. Compared with other places, couples with children are scarce here: 25%, fewer than in 54% of compared French towns. Typically, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €24,810 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 €24,810 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 63% of compared French towns.
26% of households are headed by a retired person, below 79% 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 manager or professional is 7.5%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a retired person come to 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.3% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 98% 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.
The median compared commune in Orne has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 98% of compared French towns. Foreign nationals make up about one in 83 here (1.2%). 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.
Irai ranks below 98% of compared French towns on single residents: 18%
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: 44% of the total. As a reference point, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 84% of compared French towns, at 21%
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
18% of adults out of school have no qualification. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (603 to 2,582 people), the 10th youngest
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).
No nearby town is as young as Irai
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irai | 42.3 | 22% | 20% | 1.3% |
| Tourouvre au Perche 2,955 · 4.9 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 21% | 2.6% |
| L'Aigle 7,663 · 7 mi | 47.4 | 28% | 2.7% | 11% |
| Longny les Villages 2,811 · 9.8 mi | 56.4 | 35% | 24% | 2.8% |
| Verneuil d'Avre et d'Iton 7,193 · 11.7 mi | 50 | 29% | 4.4% | 6.1% |
| Mortagne-au-Perche 3,898 · 12.1 mi | 50 | 32% | 5.9% | 5.1% |
| Breteuil 4,282 · 15 mi | 49.6 | 29% | 9% | 3.2% |
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 Irai
What is the population of Irai?
603 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (582).
How old are Irai’s residents?
The median age is 42.3, younger than 63% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Irai?
68, with occasional dwellings: 20% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Irai?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.3% of residents, and 7 foreign nationals (1.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Irai?
€24,810 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.