Photo: Havang(nl) · CC037% of households rent social housing (HLM), a share 97% of compared French towns don’t reach
36% of households are headed by a retired person, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Census day 2023: 3,659 residents and 1,670 households in Belleu. The census found that 15% of households have no car locally. At 38%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 62% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Aisne 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 Belleu
Social housing
37% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 9.6% rent privately and 52% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Belleu’s residents are under 51.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Belleu had 3,848 residents at the 2012 census and 3,659 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −5% since 2012, behind 88% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −1%, then −4% to 2023.
A median age of 51.5: Belleu is older than 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
■ Belleu 51.5. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 9.7%, Belleu is behind 70% of compared French towns on that count. Put another way, about one in three: 31% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aisne 52.5%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Belleu ranks below 66% of compared French towns on couples with children: 22%
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 Aisne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Here just over one in ten households are single parents, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 10%. By way of comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2.1 people each.
A higher share of flats than 58% of compared French towns, at 35%
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
There is little gap on second homes: 1.4%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, flats come to 30%. Across Belleu, 7.2% of homes stand empty.
A median standard of living of €22,680 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 median standard of living in Belleu is €22,680 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 84% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 19.0% of residents.
Belleu ranks below 81% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 5.5%
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 manual worker is 17% in Belleu and 14% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Above 75% of compared French towns: 11% of 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 share of foreign nationals is 8.1%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. On average, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
Belleu: 46% of residents 15 and over are married, above 74% 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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Belleu comes in at 24%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
16% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 95% 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
31% of adults out of school have no qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 19%. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 3,633 to 3,687 people: this is the 8th 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.
Saint-Philbert-de-Bouaine is the youngest (38); Plestin-les-Grèves the oldest (61.5).
Belleu is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belleu | 51.5 | 31% | 1.4% | 11% |
| Soissons 28,046 · 1.2 mi | 42.5 | 23% | 1.2% | 15% |
| Villeneuve-Saint-Germain 2,616 · 1.2 mi | 42.3 | 21% | 1.3% | 12% |
| Crouy 3,049 · 2.7 mi | 44.9 | 24% | 1.3% | 5.7% |
| Villers-Cotterêts 10,489 · 13.5 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 1.3% | 12% |
| Fère-en-Tardenois 2,836 · 13.9 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 1.9% | 3.3% |
| Fismes 5,850 · 16.1 mi | 43.6 | 23% | 1.5% | 3.1% |
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 Belleu
What is the population of Belleu?
3,659 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (3,848).
How old are Belleu’s residents?
The median age is 51.5, older than 88% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Belleu?
25, with occasional dwellings: 1.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Belleu?
INSEE counts 410 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 300 foreign nationals (8.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Belleu?
€22,680 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 19.0% 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 8, 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.