23% of homes in Brénod are second homes
Just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over (typical compared French town: 22%). Brénod has fewer households in social housing than 77% of compared French towns, at 6.9%. In 2023, the Census found 576 residents locally, living in 270 households. Empty homes: 4.8% of the total.
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 Brénod
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 85 second homes and occasional dwellings in Brénod, 23% of its 380 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 87% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Brénod sits below 65% of compared French towns for flats (21%)
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
Long tenure is the mark of 17% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 15% (under two years). Just over one in ten households have no car, a higher share than in 52% of compared French towns.
Brénod’s population changed by +6% since 2012, more than in 55% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +13% for the median Ain town, the change came in two steps: −6% from 2012 to 2017, then +13% to 2023.
In Brénod, 8.5% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 88% 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
■ Brénod 46.7. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 46.7, Brénod is older than 68% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
Only 9.1% of households are single parents in Brénod
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
Households average 2.1 people. One-person households are rarer here than in 53% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households is 10%. On couples with children, 25% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town.
A median of €29,580 a year per consumption unit
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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €29,580 a year: higher than in 82% of compared French towns.
22% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 89% 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
The figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 7.3% in Brénod and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. 31% of households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 67% of compared French towns: 4.7%
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.
Census figures put foreign nationals at 5% in Brénod. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 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: 18%, a lower share than 98% 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
Here 45% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Brénod ranks below 72% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 15%
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 Brénod, 32% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
18th highest median age among 41 French towns of 576 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 1 are older than Brénod
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brénod | 46.7 | 26% | 23% | 4.7% |
| Nantua 3,416 · 6.2 mi | 42.3 | 23% | 3.6% | 27% |
| Plateau d'Hauteville 4,857 · 6.6 mi | 50.8 | 29% | 11% | 7% |
| Montréal-la-Cluse 3,568 · 8.4 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 2.2% | 23% |
| Valserhône 16,712 · 10.5 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 2.9% | 21% |
| Pont-d'Ain 2,843 · 12.6 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 4.1% | 8.7% |
| Ambronay 2,841 · 12.8 mi | 42.1 | 19% | 2.9% | 3.3% |
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 Brénod
What is the population of Brénod?
576 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (543).
How old are Brénod’s residents?
The median age is 46.7, older than 68% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Brénod?
85, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Brénod?
INSEE counts 27 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.7% of residents, and 29 foreign nationals (5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Brénod?
€29,580 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.