In Brens, 2.4% of households have no car, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
Here 1.7% of homes are flats, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. A quarter of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 95% of compared French towns. There were 480 households in Brens at the 2023 Census, home to 1,123 residents. The census found that 4.2% of homes stand empty here.
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 Brens
Fewer residents than in 2012
Brens had 1,215 residents at the 2012 census and 1,123 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 94% of compared French towns grew faster than Brens: −8%
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 those years, the median Ain town changed +13% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −4%, then −4% to 2023.
Older than 77% of compared French towns: half of Brens is over 48.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Brens 48.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 8.6%, below 87% of compared French towns. The census found that nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over in Brens.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
Brens sits below 99% of compared French towns for single-parent households (4.3%)
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
On average, 2.3 people share a household. Compared with other places, couples with children are common here: 29%, more than in 69% of compared French towns. The wider picture: one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
Second homes: 6.6%, a higher share than 82% 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
24% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 8.5% moved in within the last two years. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Typically, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €28,060 a year in standard of living
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 €28,060 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 71% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 13% in Brens, more than in 67% 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
By its share of households headed by a retired person (34%), Brens is above 56% of compared French towns. For Brens, the census puts households headed by a manual worker at 16%. As a reference point, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 3.5% of residents are immigrants in Brens
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.
Here 1.7% of residents are foreign nationals, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. On average, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. That is lower than in 78% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Ain has 8.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Brens sits above 99% of compared French towns for married residents (58%)
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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Brens comes in at 18%. In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married.
15% of adults out of school have no qualification, below 74% 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
30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, against 26% in Brens. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Ranked by age, 15th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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).
No nearby town is as old as Brens
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brens | 48.5 | 23% | 6.6% | 3.5% |
| Belley 9,388 · 2.6 mi | 46.5 | 26% | 3% | 13% |
| Yenne 3,026 · 3.7 mi | 44.3 | 25% | 5.1% | 4.9% |
| Saint-Genix-les-Villages 3,095 · 8.4 mi | 44.5 | 23% | 6.5% | 4.4% |
| Les Avenières Veyrins-Thuellin 7,698 · 8.7 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 5.3% | 5.6% |
| Le Bourget-du-Lac 5,216 · 9.3 mi | 36.5 | 19% | 7.6% | 4.7% |
| Aoste 2,876 · 9.4 mi | 41.5 | 20% | 2.1% | 7.9% |
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 Brens
What is the population of Brens?
1,123 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (1,215).
How old are Brens’ residents?
The median age is 48.5, older than 77% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Brens?
35, with occasional dwellings: 6.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Brens?
INSEE counts 39 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.5% of residents, and 19 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Brens?
€28,060 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.