Photo: 瀬戸洋一、浦田有佳里他：「マルチステークホルダープロセスにおけるプライバシー影響評価の考察」，CSS2016 · CC BY-SA 4.0Pia ranks above 98% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 17%
In the typical compared French town, 32% of households are headed by a retired person; in Pia, 26%. Households without a car make up about one in 18 here (5.5%). With a median age of 38.8, Pia is younger than 85% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 11,615 residents and 4,590 households locally.
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 Pia
Growing fast
Pia had 7,955 residents at the 2012 census and 11,615 in 2023, up 46%: faster growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Pia grew +46% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 99% 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
The change was +14% from 2012 to 2017 and +29% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Pyrénées-Orientales town +10%.
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 79% of compared French towns, at 18%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Pia 38.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pyrénées-Orientales 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Pia sits below 91% of compared French towns for one-person households (26%)
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
Here 28% of households are couples with children, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%. The usual figure: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households average 2.5 people.
13% of homes are flats, fewer than in 81% 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
Nothing unusual on empty homes: 6%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Locally, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM).
Median standard of living: €22,620 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €22,620 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 85% of compared French towns. One measure of hardship: 21.0% of residents are below the poverty line.
6.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional, below 72% 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
14% of households are headed by a manual worker, or about one in seven. As a yardstick, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
6.9% of Pia’s residents are immigrants
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 Pyrénées-Orientales has 7.9%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 53% of compared French towns. For Pia, the census puts foreign nationals at 3.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Above 65% 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
With married residents at 41%, Pia is behind 62% of compared French towns on that count. Set beside that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 73% of compared French towns, at 23%
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
The share of adults with no qualification is 21%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. On average, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 11,392 to 11,766 people: this is the 6th 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 Dugny (31.9), the oldest Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer (55.2).
No nearby town is as young as Pia
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pia | 38.8 | 18% | 2.1% | 6.9% |
| Bompas 7,832 · 1.5 mi | 48.5 | 28% | 3.2% | 9.1% |
| Claira 4,922 · 2.5 mi | 43.7 | 22% | 6.2% | 5.7% |
| Rivesaltes 9,270 · 2.7 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 3.1% | 9.3% |
| Perpignan 121,616 · 3.3 mi | 42 | 23% | 4.3% | 18% |
| Villelongue-de-la-Salanque 3,335 · 3.8 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 3.8% | 6.4% |
| Saint-Estève 11,630 · 4 mi | 51.7 | 31% | 1% | 7.2% |
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 Pia
What is the population of Pia?
11,615 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 46% more than in 2012 (7,955).
How old are Pia’s residents?
The median age is 38.8, younger than 85% of compared French towns. 26% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pia?
110, with occasional dwellings: 2.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pia?
INSEE counts 810 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.9% of residents, and 410 foreign nationals (3.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pia?
€22,620 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.0% 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.