Older than 98% of compared French towns: half of Bélesta is over 59.3
Where 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, Bélesta has 3.4%. 14% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 92% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 1,091 residents in 560 households. Households headed by a retired person account for 50%.
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 Bélesta
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 190 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bélesta, 22% of its 870 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Bélesta’s residents are under 59.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 38% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 130 homes empty (15%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of second homes than 94% of compared French towns: 22%
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
One in ten homes are flats, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in seven: 15% of homes stand empty. Lower than in 57% of compared French towns: 9.3% of households have no car. Elsewhere, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
+2% since 2012, a pace below 60% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +2% for the median Ariège town, the change came in two steps: ±0% from 2012 to 2017, then +3% to 2023.
Bélesta sits above 97% of compared French towns for residents aged 65 and over (38%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bélesta 59.3. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 6.9%, Bélesta is behind 98% of compared French towns on that count. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
6.3% of households are single parents, below 94% 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
Set against 35% in the typical compared French town, 43% of households are one person living alone in Bélesta. On average, 1.9 people share a household. Measured more widely, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €21,300 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €21,300 a year: lower than in 92% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 98% of compared French towns: 2.7%
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
The share of households headed by a manual worker trails 66% of compared French towns: 12%. 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).
A higher share of immigrants than 61% of compared French towns, at 8.2%
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 median compared commune in Ariège has 9.1%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in just over three fifths of compared French towns. Typically, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Foreign nationals: 5.7% of the total.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A smaller share of single residents than 79% of compared French towns: 22%
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
Married residents account for 42%. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Bélesta sits below 80% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (22%)
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 figure for adults with no qualification is 25% in Bélesta and 19% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 4th oldest of 41 French towns of 1,091 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.
Every neighbor is younger than Bélesta
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 Bélesta
What is the population of Bélesta?
1,091 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (1,065).
How old are Bélesta’s residents?
The median age is 59.3, older than 98% of compared French towns. 12% are under 18 and 38% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bélesta?
190, with occasional dwellings: 22% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bélesta?
INSEE counts 89 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.2% of residents, and 62 foreign nationals (5.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bélesta?
€21,300 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.