Half of Balham is under 36.3, younger than 93% of compared French towns
1.7% of households have no car; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. Empty homes make up about one in 18 here (5.5%). Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Balham had 140 residents in 60 households at the 2023 census.
Throughout this page, the Ardennes 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 Balham
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 9 second homes and occasional dwellings in Balham, 12% of its 73 homes: higher than in 90% 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 ↓
A young town
Half of Balham’s residents are under 36.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 24% are under 15 and 14% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
A town of families
33% of households are couples with children and 17% single parents with children; 24% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Balham, 12% of homes are second homes, more than in 90% of compared French towns
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
In the last two years, nearly one in ten households moved in; at the other end, 6.7% have stayed 30 years or more. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Growth of +16% since 2012 puts Balham ahead of 83% 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
In two steps, +26% to 2017 and −8% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −9% in Ardennes.
Below 95% of compared French towns: 14% 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
■ Balham 36.3. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%; Balham has 8.6%. Against that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 17%, a higher share than 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 Ardennes median and the France median
Living alone · share
Against a figure of 35% in the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households in Balham comes in at 33%. For single-parent households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 10%. Couples with children are more common here than in 88% of compared French towns.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €20,930 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 Balham is €20,930 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 94% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person: 17%, a lower share than 98% 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
In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker; in Balham, 25%. Census figures put households headed by a manager or professional at 8.3% here. Elsewhere, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 0.7% of residents are foreign nationals in Balham
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.
2.9% of residents are immigrants, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals. That is lower than in 83% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Ardennes has 6.7%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Balham ranks below 82% of compared French towns on married residents: 37%
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 the typical compared French town, 25% of residents 15 and over are single; in Balham, 23%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
In Balham, 16% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 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
The share of adults with no qualification trails 65% of compared French towns: 16%. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 140 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.
Balham is the youngest (36.3); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Every neighbor is older than Balham
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balham | 36.3 | 14% | 12% | 2.9% |
| Villeneuve-sur-Aisne 2,792 · 9.1 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 1.3% | 2.4% |
| Rethel 7,444 · 9.4 mi | 47 | 26% | 1.8% | 2.6% |
| Warmeriville 2,749 · 10.1 mi | 39 | 17% | 1% | 1.9% |
| Witry-lès-Reims 4,950 · 14.1 mi | 44 | 20% | 0.6% | 3.6% |
| Bétheny 6,975 · 15.3 mi | 47.6 | 27% | 0.8% | 4.2% |
| Saint-Brice-Courcelles 3,566 · 17.6 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 0.6% | 3.9% |
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 Balham
What is the population of Balham?
140 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 16% more than in 2012 (121).
How old are Balham’s residents?
The median age is 36.3, younger than 93% of compared French towns. 29% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Balham?
9, with occasional dwellings: 12% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Balham?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.9% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Balham?
€20,930 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.