Half of Gordes is over 61.7, older than 99% of compared French towns
In Gordes, 0.1% of households rent social housing (HLM), beside 12% in the typical compared French town. This Vaucluse town counted 1,661 residents and 800 households at the 2023 Census. On the census count, 46% of households are headed by a retired person. At 9.4%, the share of flats is lower than in 88% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Vaucluse 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 Gordes
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 970 second homes and occasional dwellings in Gordes, 49% of its 1,970 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 92% 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 Gordes’ residents are under 61.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 44% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 14% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Gordes had 2,001 residents at the 2012 census and 1,661 in 2023, down 17%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 49% of its homes
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
6.4% of households moved in less than two years ago; 28% have been in their home 30 years or more. In the typical compared French town, second homes come to 2.1%. Compared with other places, households without a car are scarce here: 4.4%, fewer than in 92% of compared French towns. Here one in ten homes stand empty, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 6.7%.
Since 2012, Gordes has changed by −17%, slower than 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 −11% from 2012 to 2017 and −6% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Vaucluse town +7%.
Gordes: 44% of residents are 65 or over, above 99% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Gordes 61.7. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%; Gordes has 6.5%. To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vaucluse 51.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Gordes ranks below 75% of compared French towns on couples with children: 20%
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 Vaucluse median and the France median
Living alone · share
Where 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Gordes has 8.1%. The share of couples with children in the typical compared French town is 25%. A household here holds 2 people on average. At 34%, the share of one-person households is lower than in 56% of compared French towns.
Median living standard: €28,610 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 residents live in households above €28,610 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 76% of compared French towns.
Gordes sits below 98% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (3.7%)
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: a tenth of the total. Measured more widely, 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).
7.4% of Gordes’ 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.
Foreign nationals: 5.1% of the total. That is higher than in 56% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Vaucluse has 6.8%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
51% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 95% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Where 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, Gordes has 19%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Graduates of higher education make up 37% in Gordes, more than in 72% 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
Adults with no qualification: 15% here and 19% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,661 to 2,582 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Every neighbor is younger than Gordes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordes | 61.7 | 44% | 49% | 7.4% |
| Robion 4,816 · 5.6 mi | 48.1 | 25% | 5.9% | 4.3% |
| L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue 20,244 · 7.2 mi | 49.1 | 27% | 9.9% | 9% |
| Gargas 3,035 · 7.7 mi | 54.8 | 32% | 12% | 6.5% |
| Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt 3,004 · 8.4 mi | 53.1 | 32% | 31% | 6.5% |
| Cavaillon 25,636 · 8.7 mi | 44.2 | 24% | 3.1% | 20% |
| Cheval-Blanc 4,362 · 9.2 mi | 48.8 | 24% | 4.8% | 5% |
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 Gordes
What is the population of Gordes?
1,661 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 17% fewer than in 2012 (2,001).
How old are Gordes’ residents?
The median age is 61.7, older than 99% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 44% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gordes?
970, with occasional dwellings: 49% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gordes?
INSEE counts 120 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.4% of residents, and 84 foreign nationals (5.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gordes?
€28,610 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 4, 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.