Matemale: 78% of homes are second homes, above 99% of compared French towns
Empty homes: 0.9% here and 6.7% in the typical compared French town. 274 residents in 150 households: that is Matemale at the 2023 Census. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 7.2%. This Pyrénées-Orientales town has fewer single-parent households than 93% of compared French towns, at 6.6%.
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 Matemale
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 550 second homes and occasional dwellings in Matemale, 78% of its 700 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 80% 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.
A lower share of households without a car than 90% of compared French towns, at 4.8%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of flats is 30%; Matemale has 20%. On average, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town.
−2% since 2012: slower than 77% 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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Pyrénées-Orientales town +10%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought −4%; 2017 to 2023, +3%.
A median age of 48.5: Matemale is older than 77% 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
■ Matemale 48.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 23% of the total.
Women and men · all residents
42% women, 58% men
About 73 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Pyrénées-Orientales 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Above 83% of compared French towns: 45% of households are one person living alone
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
There are 1.8 people in the average household. Typically, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Matemale has fewer couples with children than 79% of compared French towns, at 19%.
Median living standard: €27,080 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.
Living standards centre on €27,080 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 62% of compared French towns.
Matemale sits below 73% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (6.4%)
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
Here one in ten households are headed by a manual worker, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 14%. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%. Households headed by a retired person account for 30%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A larger share of foreign nationals than 64% of compared French towns: 6.1%
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.
That is lower than in 56% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Pyrénées-Orientales has 7.9%. For comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Immigrants: 5.7% of the total.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Above 66% of compared French towns: 27% of residents 15 and over are single
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 come to 42% in Matemale, about four in ten. Elsewhere, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
9.7% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 96% 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
Nearly a quarter of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Ranked by age, 15th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Matemale and the towns around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matemale | 48.5 | 23% | 78% | 5.7% |
| Prades 6,148 · 15.9 mi | 53.9 | 34% | 11% | 11% |
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 Matemale
What is the population of Matemale?
274 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (279).
How old are Matemale’s residents?
The median age is 48.5, older than 77% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Matemale?
550, with occasional dwellings: 78% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Matemale?
INSEE counts 16 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.7% of residents, and 17 foreign nationals (6.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Matemale?
€27,080 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.