72% of homes are second homes, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
Here 4.3% of residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. Bethmale had 108 residents in 61 households at the 2023 Census. 1.3% of homes stand empty, or about one in 77. Couples with children are rarer here than in 93% of compared French towns.
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 Bethmale
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 170 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bethmale, 72% of its 230 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 99% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
57% of Bethmale’s households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 46% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
An older town
Half of Bethmale’s residents are under 55 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 6.9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
2% of homes are flats, below 99% 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, 14% of households moved in; at the other end, 15% have stayed 30 years or more. Fewer households without a car than in 91% of compared French towns: 4.5%.
Bethmale grew +10% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 70% 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 those years, the median Ariège town changed +2% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −3%, then +14% to 2023.
Half of Bethmale is over 55, older than 94% 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
■ Bethmale 55. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 65 and over at 34%, Bethmale is ahead of 92% of compared French towns on that count.
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%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
More one-person households than 99% of compared French towns: 57%
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
Each household has 1.8 people on average. On average, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
21% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 88% 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
Compared with 32% in the typical compared French town, 36% of households are headed by a retired person here. Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 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).
Immigrants make up 6% of Bethmale’s residents
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 54% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Ariège has 9.1%. About one in 17: that is how common immigrants are in Bethmale (6%). On foreign nationals, 4.3% here is much the same as 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.
Above 92% of compared French towns: 35% of residents 15 and over are single
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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 37% in Bethmale. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 84% of compared French towns: 21%
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
Bethmale has fewer adults with no qualification than 53% of compared French towns, at 19%. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 108 to 2,582 people: this is the 6th 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).
Bethmale 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethmale | 55 | 34% | 72% | 6% |
| Saint-Girons 6,008 · 7.8 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 Bethmale
What is the population of Bethmale?
108 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% more than in 2012 (98).
How old are Bethmale’s residents?
The median age is 55, older than 94% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bethmale?
170, with occasional dwellings: 72% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bethmale?
INSEE counts 7 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (4.3%). 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 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.