Younger than 99% of compared French towns: half of Balan is under 28.6
The share of one-person households is 20%, against 35% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census, 3,077 people lived in Balan, in 750 households. Census figures put households without a car at 2.1% here. On households headed by a retired person, Balan sits lower than four fifths of compared French towns: 26%.
Throughout this page, the Ain 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 Balan
A young town
Half of Balan’s residents are under 28.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 16% are under 15 and 9.5% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
A town of families
43% of households are couples with children and 5.3% single parents with children; 16% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A +10% change since 2012: Balan grew faster than 71% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Ain town +13%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was −4%; from 2017 to 2023, +15%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 9.5% in Balan, less than in 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
■ Balan 28.6. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 tops 99% of compared French towns: 24%. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 77 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of couples with children than 99% of compared French towns: 43%
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 Ain median and the France median
Living alone · share
The share of single-parent households is 5.3%, against 10% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. The average household has 2.7 people.
19% of homes are flats, below 70% 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
Empty homes: 5.2%, below 72% of compared French towns. For comparison, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. One in ten households rent social housing (HLM), or about one in ten. Lower than in 69% of compared French towns: 1.3% of homes are second homes.
Median standard of living: €28,680 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 €28,680 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 76% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 8.0% of residents are below the line.
16% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 66% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 make up 7.9%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 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).
5.1% of residents are immigrants, below 62% of compared French towns
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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 3.2% of residents are foreign nationals in Balan. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents: 31%, a higher share than 83% 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
Married residents: 40%, below 69% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Balan sits below 82% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (13%)
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
Graduates of higher education: 24%, below 72% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 3,050 to 3,104 people
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 Balan (28.6), the oldest Soulac-sur-Mer (63.7).
Every neighbor is older than Balan
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 Balan
What is the population of Balan?
3,077 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% more than in 2012 (2,785).
How old are Balan’s residents?
The median age is 28.6, younger than 99% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 9.5% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Balan?
11, with occasional dwellings: 1.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Balan?
INSEE counts 160 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.1% of residents, and 98 foreign nationals (3.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Balan?
€28,680 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 8.0% 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 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.