A median age of 35: Balacet is younger than 96% of compared French towns
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 51 residents and 20 households in Balacet. Flats: 2.4% of the total. With couples with children at 33%, Balacet is ahead of 88% of compared French towns on that count.
Throughout this page, the Ariège 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 Balacet
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 32 second homes and occasional dwellings in Balacet, 58% of its 56 homes: higher than in 98% 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 ↓
Growing fast
Balacet had 17 residents at the 2012 census and 51 in 2023, up 200%: faster growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
A young town
Half of Balacet’s residents are under 35 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 37% are under 15 and 7.9% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 0 immigrants in Balacet (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 16% of residents, against 9.1% for the median compared commune in Ariège. 16% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes make up 58% in Balacet, more than in 98% 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
Households without a car are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Census figures put empty homes at 5.8% in Balacet.
Balacet’s population changed by +200% since 2012, more than in 99% 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 same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Ariège town +2%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +53%; from 2017 to 2023, +96%.
A smaller share of residents aged 65 and over than 99% of compared French towns: 7.9%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Balacet 35. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
33% of households are one person living alone, below 59% 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 Ariège median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. To put it in context, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. There are 2.5 people in the average household.
In Balacet, 33% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 55% 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 manual worker are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for households headed by a retired person is 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 16% in Balacet, more than in 87% 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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 16% of residents are foreign nationals here. The median compared commune in Ariège has 9.1%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 87% of compared French towns. 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.
Married residents make up 42% in Balacet, less than in 59% 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
25% of residents 15 and over are single, or about one in four. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Balacet sits below 60% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (17%)
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
Census figures put graduates of higher education at 30% in Balacet. Measured more widely, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 51 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.
The youngest is Balacet (35), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Balacet and the towns 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balacet | 35 | 7.9% | 58% | 16% |
| Saint-Girons 6,008 · 10.6 mi | 51.9 | 33% | 6.7% | 9.1% |
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 Balacet
What is the population of Balacet?
51 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 200% more than in 2012 (17).
How old are Balacet’s residents?
The median age is 35, younger than 96% of compared French towns. 37% are under 18 and 7.9% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Balacet?
32, with occasional dwellings: 58% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Balacet?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 16% of residents, and 8 foreign nationals (16%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.