Photo: Alan Mattingly · CC0A lower share of households without a car than 90% of compared French towns, at 4.8%
The median age in Alénya is 49.5, higher than in just over four fifths of compared French towns. The census found that 5.2% of homes are second homes here. This Pyrénées-Orientales town counted 3,782 residents and 1,680 households at the 2023 Census. Households in social housing make up 8.3%, against 12% in the typical compared French town.
Throughout this page, the Pyrénées-Orientales 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 Alénya
Immigrants
INSEE counts 600 immigrants in Alénya (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 15% of residents, against 7.9% for the median compared commune in Pyrénées-Orientales. 7.2% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
+15% since 2012, a pace 82% of compared French towns didn’t match
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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +10%, then +5% to 2023.
Alénya ranks above 75% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 27%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Alénya 49.5. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24; in Alénya, 9.7%. As a yardstick, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pyrénées-Orientales 52.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
31% of households are one person living alone, below 70% 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 Pyrénées-Orientales median and the France median
Living alone · share
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, nearly a quarter of households are couples with children in Alénya. Compared with other places, single-parent households are common here: 12%, more than in four fifths of compared French towns. On average, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.2 people.
21% of homes are flats, below 65% 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
Long tenure is the mark of 13% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 8.7% (under two years). Empty homes are more common here than in 64% of compared French towns.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €24,460 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €24,460 a year: lower than in 67% of compared French towns. Some 18.0% of residents fall below the poverty line.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 67% of compared French towns: 36%
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
Just over one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional; in the typical compared French town the figure is 9.4%. Still, fewer households headed by a manual worker than in 62% of compared French towns: 12%. The share of households headed by a retired person 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).
Immigrants: 15%, a higher share than 86% 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.
7.2% of residents are foreign nationals (typical compared French town: 4.3%). To put it in context, 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.
47% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 79% 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 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, Alénya has 23%. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
A larger share of graduates of higher education than 52% of compared French towns: 31%
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
In Alénya, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 8th oldest of 41 French towns of 3,745 to 3,818 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.
The youngest is Chauconin-Neufmontiers (34.4), the oldest Soorts-Hossegor (62.6).
Alénya sits below 2 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alénya | 49.5 | 27% | 5.2% | 15% |
| Corneilla-del-Vercol 2,696 · 1.7 mi | 42.4 | 21% | 4.9% | 8.7% |
| Saint-Nazaire 2,779 · 1.9 mi | 47 | 25% | 8.4% | 5.1% |
| Saleilles 5,698 · 2.1 mi | 48.8 | 28% | 3.3% | 6.9% |
| Saint-Cyprien 12,068 · 2.2 mi | 61.1 | 43% | 62% | 7.9% |
| Latour-Bas-Elne 3,228 · 2.4 mi | 51.4 | 31% | 15% | 7.7% |
| Elne 9,511 · 2.6 mi | 45.4 | 24% | 4.2% | 13% |
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 Alénya
What is the population of Alénya?
3,782 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 15% more than in 2012 (3,283).
How old are Alénya’s residents?
The median age is 49.5, older than 81% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Alénya?
100, with occasional dwellings: 5.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Alénya?
INSEE counts 570 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 15% of residents, and 270 foreign nationals (7.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Alénya?
€24,460 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% 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 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.