A lower share of households without a car than 99% of compared French towns, at 2.6%
4.3% of households are single parents, against 10% in the typical compared French town. More households headed by a manual worker than in 98% of compared French towns: 26%. The 2023 Census counted 232 residents in 120 households. Here, 6.9% of residents are 15 to 24.
Throughout this page, the Allier 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 Bègues
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 25 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bègues, 17% of its 150 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 100% 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.
Below 99% of compared French towns: 2.6% of homes are flats
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
The figure for second homes is 17% in Bègues and 2.1% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for flats is 30% in the typical compared French town. Here, 7.3% of homes stand empty.
A ±0% change since 2012: slower than 68% 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 whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Allier town −1%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought −2%; 2017 to 2023, +2%.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 70% of compared French towns, at 25%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bègues 44.6. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Bègues is 44.6, higher than in 53% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 115 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Bègues ranks above 66% of compared French towns on one-person households: 39%
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 Allier median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2 people. Couples with children are more common here than in 54% of compared French towns. For comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €25,410 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €25,410 a year: lower than in 55% of compared French towns.
Only 4.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Bègues
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 retired person make up 39%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 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).
Bègues sits below 94% of compared French towns for immigrants (1.7%)
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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 1.3% of residents are foreign nationals here. To put it in context, 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.
22% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 81% 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
With married residents at 41%, Bègues is behind 61% of compared French towns on that count. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 84% of compared French towns, at 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
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 38% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification here. Measured more widely, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
17th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 232 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Bègues is younger 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bègues | 44.6 | 25% | 17% | 1.7% |
| Gannat 5,610 · 2.8 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 2.9% | 3.9% |
| Aigueperse 2,665 · 7.4 mi | 49.3 | 29% | 1.4% | 5.6% |
| Bellerive-sur-Allier 8,943 · 11.9 mi | 53 | 34% | 4.9% | 7.7% |
| Vichy 25,115 · 13 mi | 53.1 | 37% | 8.5% | 11% |
| Creuzier-le-Vieux 3,205 · 13.5 mi | 53.3 | 30% | 2.6% | 4.1% |
| Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule 4,884 · 14.1 mi | 50.6 | 31% | 3.1% | 2% |
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 Bègues
What is the population of Bègues?
232 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (231).
How old are Bègues’ residents?
The median age is 44.6, older than 53% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bègues?
25, with occasional dwellings: 17% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bègues?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.7% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bègues?
€25,410 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.