More empty homes than 95% of compared French towns: 15%
In the typical compared French town, the share of flats is 30%; Perpignan has 73%. Here, 16% of households are couples with children. Few places have as many households without a car: 26% here, more than in 92% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 121,616, in 60,980 households.
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 Perpignan
Immigrants
INSEE counts 21,900 immigrants in Perpignan (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 18% of residents, against 7.9% for the median compared commune in Pyrénées-Orientales. 14% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Many people living alone
49% of Perpignan’s households are one person: higher than in 92% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 11,000 homes empty (15%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Perpignan changed by +1% from 2012 to 2023, behind 66% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved ±0%, and from 2017 to 2023 +1%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Pyrénées-Orientales town +10%.
Above 90% of compared French towns: 13% of residents are 15 to 24
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Perpignan 42. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Perpignan’s residents are under 42, younger than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 65 and over make up about one in four here (23%).
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pyrénées-Orientales 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Perpignan ranks above 92% of compared French towns on one-person households: 49%
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
The typical household size is 1.9 people. The comparison figure for one-person households is 35% in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households account for 14%.
A higher share of second homes than 73% of compared French towns, at 4.3%
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
Some 17% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 12% who have been there 30 years or more. In the typical compared French town, the share of second homes is 2.1%. The census found that 14% of households rent social housing (HLM) in Perpignan.
Half above, half below €19,110 a year in standard of living
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 Perpignan’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €19,110 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 98% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 36.2% of the population.
7.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional, below 66% 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
13% of households are headed by a manual worker. In the typical compared French town, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional. There is little gap on households headed by a retired person: 32%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
18% of residents are immigrants, a share 91% of compared French towns don’t reach
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.
Foreign nationals make up 14%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. 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.
A smaller share of married residents than 95% of compared French towns: 33%
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
Single residents make up 37%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of adults with no qualification than 82% of compared French towns, at 26%
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
Census figures put graduates of higher education at 29% in Perpignan. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Among 41 French towns of 91,053 to 161,830 people, the 2nd 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.
Nancy is the youngest (31.2); Paris 16e the oldest (43.7).
Around Perpignan, 5 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Perpignan
What is the population of Perpignan?
121,616 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (120,489).
How old are Perpignan’s residents?
The median age is 42, younger than 66% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Perpignan?
3,220, with occasional dwellings: 4.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Perpignan?
INSEE counts 21,920 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 18% of residents, and 17,220 foreign nationals (14%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Perpignan?
€19,110 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 36.2% 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.