A larger share of empty homes than 99% of compared French towns: 21%
12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, against 1.9% in Bézenet. Flats make up about one in 45 here (2.2%). The median age here is 49.3, higher than in four fifths of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 910 residents here, living in 430 households.
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 Bézenet
Fewer residents than in 2012
Bézenet had 993 residents at the 2012 census and 910 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 120 homes empty (21%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 95% of compared French towns grew faster than Bézenet: −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 the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Allier town −1%.
27% of residents are 65 or over, a share 76% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bézenet 49.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Roughly one in ten: just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Bézenet ranks below 70% of compared French towns on couples with children: 21%
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
Households average 2 people. Few places have as many one-person households: 41% here, more than in 72% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for couples with children is 25% in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households make up 9.3%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of second homes than 82% of compared French towns, at 6.5%
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
Nearly one in ten households arrived within the last two years, while 22% have stayed 30 years or more. Few places have so few households without a car: 8.7% here, fewer than in 62% of compared French towns. The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Car-free households: one in 12, where the median compared French town has 11%.
The median resident lives on €21,610 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.
Half of residents live in households above €21,610 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 91% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a manual worker than 82% of compared French towns, at 20%
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
35% of households are headed by a retired person (typical compared French town: 32%). Compared with other places, households headed by a manager or professional are scarce here: 5.8%, fewer than in 78% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 79% of compared French towns: 3.3% 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 median compared commune in Allier has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%. Locally, 1.6% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Bézenet, 23% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 70% 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
Just over two in five residents 15 and over are married (typical compared French town: 43%). In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
In Bézenet, 15% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 97% 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
By its share of adults with no qualification (29%), Bézenet is above 90% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 14th oldest of 41 French towns of 910 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Bézenet and its 6 nearest towns: 5 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bézenet | 49.3 | 27% | 6.5% | 3.3% |
| Commentry 6,017 · 5.7 mi | 53.8 | 33% | 2.4% | 4.6% |
| Désertines 4,259 · 10.8 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 1.5% | 5% |
| Saint-Éloy-les-Mines 3,480 · 11.4 mi | 53.4 | 32% | 4.8% | 6.2% |
| Montluçon 33,147 · 11.8 mi | 46.9 | 28% | 3.1% | 11% |
| Prémilhat 2,540 · 13.8 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 2.3% | 5.9% |
| Domérat 8,622 · 14.4 mi | 53.5 | 33% | 1.6% | 4.4% |
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 Bézenet
What is the population of Bézenet?
910 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (993).
How old are Bézenet’s residents?
The median age is 49.3, older than 80% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bézenet?
38, with occasional dwellings: 6.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bézenet?
INSEE counts 30 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.3% of residents, and 15 foreign nationals (1.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bézenet?
€21,610 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.