Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 3.8% in Betchat, less than in 99% of compared French towns
2.2% of homes stand empty (typical compared French town: 6.7%). Single-parent households are rarer here than in 97% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Betchat was home to 355 people in 180 households. For Betchat, the census puts flats at 2.4%.
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 Betchat
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 72 second homes and occasional dwellings in Betchat, 28% of its 260 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 98% 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 Betchat’s residents are under 50.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.7% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Betchat ranks above 95% of compared French towns on second homes: 28%
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
Nearly one in ten households moved in less than two years ago; 24% have been in their home 30 years or more. Against that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The figure for households without a car is 5.3% in Betchat and 11% in the typical compared French town.
Growth of +6% since 2012 puts Betchat ahead of 56% 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 change was ±0%; from 2017 to 2023, +7%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Ariège town +2%.
A median age of 50.7: Betchat is older than 85% 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
■ Betchat 50.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 30%, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Only 18% of households are couples with children in Betchat
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
Compared with 35% in the typical compared French town, 43% of households are one person living alone here. Elsewhere, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. A household here holds 2 people on average.
A typical living standard of €23,370 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.
At €23,370 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 26%, a higher share than 95% 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
Here 35% of households are headed by a retired person, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 32%. For Betchat, the census puts households headed by a manual worker at 5.4%. The benchmark for households headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town: 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
4.4% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 70% 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.
The median compared commune in Ariège has 9.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 70% of compared French towns. Typically, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. For Betchat, the census puts foreign nationals at 3.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 77% of compared French towns: 47%
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
Across Betchat, just over a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
More graduates of higher education than 67% of compared French towns: 35%
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 account for 18%. As a reference point, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 355 to 2,582 people, the 12th oldest
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).
Betchat sits below 2 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betchat | 50.7 | 30% | 28% | 4.4% |
| Cazères 4,854 · 9.2 mi | 44.6 | 24% | 2.5% | 7.8% |
| Saint-Girons 6,008 · 9.8 mi | 51.9 | 33% | 6.7% | 9.1% |
| Montesquieu-Volvestre 3,050 · 13.2 mi | 51.1 | 28% | 6.5% | 5.1% |
| Rieux-Volvestre 2,639 · 14.6 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 4.8% | 4.8% |
| Saint-Gaudens 12,139 · 14.9 mi | 50.1 | 31% | 2.3% | 11% |
| Carbonne 5,563 · 17.9 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 1.2% | 5.9% |
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 Betchat
What is the population of Betchat?
355 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (334).
How old are Betchat’s residents?
The median age is 50.7, older than 85% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Betchat?
72, with occasional dwellings: 28% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Betchat?
INSEE counts 16 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.4% of residents, and 12 foreign nationals (3.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Betchat?
€23,370 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.