3.3% of households have no car, fewer than in 98% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The census found that 7.1% of residents are 15 to 24 in Benay. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 191, in 88 households. The figure for one-person households is 28% in Benay and 35% in the typical compared French town.
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 Benay
Fewer residents than in 2012
Benay had 213 residents at the 2012 census and 191 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
A town of families
33% of households are couples with children and 17% single parents with children; 16% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Benay changed by −10% from 2012 to 2023, behind 97% 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 median Aisne town changed −4% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −4% and the next six −6%.
Above 76% of compared French towns: 27% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Benay 45.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Benay’s residents are over 45.5, older than in 60% of compared French towns. On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Benay: 17% of households are single parents, above 98% of compared French towns
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
A third of households are couples with children (typical compared French town: 25%). Households here average 2.2 people each. On average, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
100% of homes are houses
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
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Long tenure is the mark of 44% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 4.4% (under two years). At 6.4%, the share of empty homes is in line with the figure in the typical compared French town.
Median living standard: €25,700 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.
Living standards centre on €25,700 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 53% of compared French towns.
22% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 91% 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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. For Benay, the census puts households headed by a retired person at 33%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
0% of Benay’s 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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Above 69% of compared French towns: 45% of residents 15 and over are married
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
In Benay, 24% of residents 15 and over are single, beside 25% in the typical compared French town. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
15% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 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
Here a quarter of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Among 41 French towns of 191 to 2,582 people, the 21st 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Median age: 2 of the 6 towns around Benay are older
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 Benay
What is the population of Benay?
191 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (213).
How old are Benay’s residents?
The median age is 45.5, older than 60% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Benay?
0, with occasional dwellings: 0% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Benay?
INSEE counts 0 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Benay?
€25,700 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.