Half of Ballay is over 56.6, older than 96% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Ballay’s population at 242, in 120 households. 13% of households are couples with children, or about one in eight. Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 2.5% of homes are flats here.
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 Ballay
An older town
Half of Ballay’s residents are under 56.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A −2% change since 2012: slower than 78% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved +17%, and from 2017 to 2023 −16%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Ardennes town −9%.
Only 6.1% of residents are 15 to 24 in Ballay
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ballay 56.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 22% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Ballay comes in at 29%. Across the comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 31% in Ballay, less than in 70% 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
Where 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Ballay has 8.1%. By way of comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. On average, 2 people share a household.
A higher share of second homes than 82% of compared French towns, at 6.6%
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, 7% of households moved in; at the other end, 35% have stayed 30 years or more. The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Compared with other places, empty homes are scarce here: 5.9%, fewer than in 62% of compared French towns. Ballay sits close to the norm on households without a car: 11%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
At the median, €24,430 a year to live on
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 Ballay is €24,430 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 67% of compared French towns.
28% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 99% 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, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional; in Ballay, 4.4%. Locally, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person. To put it in context, 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).
Fewer immigrants than 99% of compared French towns: 1.2%
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 share of foreign nationals is 0.9%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 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.
A higher share of married residents than 96% of compared French towns, at 52%
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
21% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
In Ballay, 15% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 96% 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
Set against 19% in the typical compared French town, 27% of adults out of school have no qualification in Ballay. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 5th oldest of 41 French towns of 242 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.
Ballay is older than every town around it
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 Ballay
What is the population of Ballay?
242 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (247).
How old are Ballay’s residents?
The median age is 56.6, older than 96% of compared French towns. 13% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ballay?
9, with occasional dwellings: 6.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ballay?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.2% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ballay?
€24,430 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.