Second homes: 72%, a higher share than 99% of compared French towns
Empty homes make up 1.2%, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town. Réal had 81 residents in 43 households at the 2023 census. In Réal, 3.7% of homes are flats. A quarter of households are headed by a retired person, a lower share than in 83% 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 Réal
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 120 second homes and occasional dwellings in Réal, 72% of its 160 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 95% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Réal had 61 residents at the 2012 census and 81 in 2023, up 33%: faster growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Réal’s residents are under 54.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 20% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Réal: 12% of households have no car, above 55% 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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. Turnover: 16% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 23% have lived in their home 30 years or more.
Growth of +33% since 2012 puts Réal ahead of 97% 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 years 2012 to 2017 brought +8%; 2017 to 2023, +23%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Pyrénées-Orientales town +10%.
Older than 93% of compared French towns: half of Réal is over 54.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Réal 54.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 4.9% of residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. On top of that, residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 66% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Pyrénées-Orientales 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Réal ranks above 99% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 25%
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
In the typical compared French town, just over a third of households are one person living alone; in Réal, 38%. For single-parent households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 10%. Households here average 1.9 people each.
13% of households are headed by a manual worker, fewer than in 60% 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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 76% of compared French towns: 3.7% of 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.
By its share of foreign nationals (2.5%), Réal is below 72% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 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.
Single residents make up 16% in Réal, less than in 99% 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
41% of residents 15 and over are married; in the typical compared French town the figure is 43%. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Réal sits above 66% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (35%)
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 Réal, 20% of adults out of school have no qualification. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 81 to 2,582 people, the 7th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Median age: 1 of the 2 towns around Réal are older
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 Réal
What is the population of Réal?
81 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 33% more than in 2012 (61).
How old are Réal’s residents?
The median age is 54.5, older than 93% of compared French towns. 12% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Réal?
120, with occasional dwellings: 72% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Réal?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.7% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (2.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.