Half of Sournia is over 55.1, older than 94% of compared French towns
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Sournia had 478 residents in 180 households at the 2023 census. Across Sournia, 43% of households are headed by a retired person. Flats: 13% here and 30% in the typical compared French town.
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 Sournia
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 110 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sournia, 32% of its 350 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 96% 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 Sournia’s residents are under 55.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 14% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 62 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.
Sournia: 32% of homes are second homes, above 95% 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
18% of homes stand empty; in the typical compared French town the figure is 6.7%. By way of comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Locally, 15% of households have no car. Compared with other places, households in social housing are scarce here: 7.3%, fewer than in 75% of compared French towns.
−3% since 2012, a pace below 82% 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 median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Pyrénées-Orientales town +10%. The change was +1% from 2012 to 2017 and −4% from 2017 to 2023.
Below 97% of compared French towns: 7.1% 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
■ Sournia 55.1. The median compared French town: 44.
33% of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
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%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Sournia, 20% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 75% of compared French towns
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
Households here average 2.1 people each. By way of comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Little separates the share of one-person households here, 35%, from the figure in the typical compared French town.
Median standard of living: €22,070 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.
Half of Sournia’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €22,070 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 88% of compared French towns.
Sournia sits below 85% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (8.6%)
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
Compared with 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 5.7% of households are headed by a manager or professional here. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a manual worker come to 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
5.6% of Sournia’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 lower than in 58% of compared French towns. About one in 18: that is how common immigrants are in Sournia (5.6%). At 4.3%, the share of foreign nationals is in line with the figure 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 37% in Sournia, more than in 95% 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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 36% in Sournia. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Sournia ranks above 99% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 40%
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 the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in Sournia, 16%. As a reference point, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
6th highest median age among 41 French towns of 478 to 2,582
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 6 towns around Sournia are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sournia | 55.1 | 33% | 32% | 5.6% |
| Prades 6,148 · 7.6 mi | 53.9 | 34% | 11% | 11% |
| Ille-sur-Têt 5,556 · 10 mi | 49.6 | 28% | 5.1% | 14% |
| Millas 4,417 · 13.1 mi | 45.1 | 24% | 7.7% | 7.7% |
| Saint-Féliu-d'Avall 2,950 · 15.8 mi | 43.1 | 20% | 2.5% | 13% |
| Quillan 2,978 · 16.8 mi | 59.1 | 38% | 19% | 14% |
| Pézilla-la-Rivière 4,129 · 16.9 mi | 41.6 | 20% | 2.6% | 6% |
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 Sournia
What is the population of Sournia?
478 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (494).
How old are Sournia’s residents?
The median age is 55.1, older than 94% of compared French towns. 13% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sournia?
110, with occasional dwellings: 32% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sournia?
INSEE counts 27 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.6% of residents, and 21 foreign nationals (4.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sournia?
€22,070 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.