Below 99% of compared French towns: 1.2% of homes are flats
Where just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Braize has 7.3%. Households without a car are rarer here than in 94% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 259 residents locally, living in 120 households. 20% of households are headed by a manual worker.
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 Braize
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 36 second homes and occasional dwellings in Braize, 21% of its 170 homes: higher than in 93% 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 ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Braize had 283 residents at the 2012 census and 259 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
21% of homes are second homes, a share 93% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Households in social housing: 5.8%, below 83% of compared French towns. Locally, 8.2% of homes stand empty. For comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Braize’s population moved −8% on 2012, less than in 95% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Allier town −1%.
Half of Braize is over 49.5, older than 81% 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
■ Braize 49.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Where just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Braize has 27%.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
In Braize, 40% of households are one person living alone, more than in 69% 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 Allier median and the France median
Living alone · share
Against a figure of 10% in the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households in Braize comes in at 12%. More couples with children than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns: 28%. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%. Households average 2.1 people.
The median resident lives on €23,040 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 €23,040 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 81% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 12%, a higher share than 64% 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 retired person come to 32% in Braize, about three in ten. For comparison, 9.4% of 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).
Immigrants: 3.5%, a lower share than 78% of compared French towns
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.
2.7% of residents are foreign nationals; in the typical compared French town the figure is 4.3%. The median compared commune in Allier has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 78% of compared French towns. Typically, 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.
Below 56% of compared French towns: 42% 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
Few places have as many single residents: 26% here, more than in 56% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Braize ranks below 98% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 15%
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
Adults with no qualification make up 21%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education is 30%.
14th highest median age among 41 French towns of 259 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).
No nearby town is as young as Braize
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braize | 49.5 | 27% | 21% | 3.5% |
| Saint-Amand-Montrond 9,899 · 7.9 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 3.9% | 4.5% |
| Dun-sur-Auron 3,524 · 15.6 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 3.2% | 2.4% |
| Sancoins 2,951 · 17 mi | 57.4 | 36% | 5.9% | 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 Braize
What is the population of Braize?
259 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (283).
How old are Braize’s residents?
The median age is 49.5, older than 81% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Braize?
36, with occasional dwellings: 21% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Braize?
INSEE counts 9 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.5% of residents, and 7 foreign nationals (2.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Braize?
€23,040 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 October 30, 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.