A median age of 65.8: Montbolo is older than 99% of compared French towns
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car in Montbolo comes in at 7.1%. The town’s 71 households held 189 residents at the 2023 Census. One-person households come to 41% here, about four in ten. At 35%, the share of households headed by a retired person is higher than in 65% of compared French towns.
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 Montbolo
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 26 second homes and occasional dwellings in Montbolo, 22% of its 120 homes: higher than in 94% 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 ↓
An older town
Half of Montbolo’s residents are under 65.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 52% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 17% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 22 homes empty (18%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Montbolo: 18% of homes stand empty, above 99% 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
2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town, against 22% in Montbolo. Households that moved in under two years ago: 9.5%. Those in their home 30 years or more: 19%. Against that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
From 2012 to 2023, 63% of compared French towns grew faster than Montbolo: +2%
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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +10% for the median Pyrénées-Orientales town, the change came in two steps: −3% from 2012 to 2017, then +5% to 2023.
Montbolo sits above 99% of compared French towns for residents aged 65 and over (52%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Montbolo 65.8. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 5.4%, Montbolo is behind 99% of compared French towns on that count. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Pyrénées-Orientales 52.6%, France 51.8%.
More single-parent households than 99% of compared French towns: 18%
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
Nearly a quarter of households are couples with children (typical compared French town: 25%). Households average 2 people. For comparison, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
€21,800 a year is the median standard of living here
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.
Half of Montbolo’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €21,800 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 90% of compared French towns.
18% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 73% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. For households headed by a manual worker, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 7.2% of Montbolo’s residents
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 about one in 14 here (7.2%). That is higher than in 55% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Pyrénées-Orientales has 7.9%. Foreign nationals are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 3.6%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
33% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 93% 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
Here 24% of residents 15 and over are single, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%. The benchmark for married residents in the typical compared French town: 43%.
Graduates of higher education make up 31% in Montbolo, more than in 54% 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
Roughly two in ten: 20% of adults out of school have no qualification. In the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education is 30%.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 189 to 2,582 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 Villejust (37.2), the oldest Montbolo (65.8).
Every neighbor is younger than Montbolo
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montbolo | 65.8 | 52% | 22% | 7.2% |
| Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda 3,529 · 1.2 mi | 60.7 | 43% | 54% | 9.1% |
| Arles-sur-Tech 2,815 · 2 mi | 54.8 | 32% | 9.6% | 9.6% |
| Céret 7,521 · 4.9 mi | 57 | 37% | 13% | 8.9% |
| Maureillas-las-Illas 3,006 · 7.8 mi | 55.4 | 33% | 13% | 8.3% |
| Le Boulou 5,487 · 9.7 mi | 54 | 35% | 13% | 11% |
| Thuir 8,243 · 11.5 mi | 49.8 | 27% | 2.1% | 9% |
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 Montbolo
What is the population of Montbolo?
189 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (186).
How old are Montbolo’s residents?
The median age is 65.8, older than 99% of compared French towns. 9.4% are under 18 and 52% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Montbolo?
26, with occasional dwellings: 22% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Montbolo?
INSEE counts 14 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.2% of residents, and 7 foreign nationals (3.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Montbolo?
€21,800 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.