Half of Bessède-de-Sault is over 61.2, older than 99% of compared French towns
In Bessède-de-Sault, 4.3% of homes are flats, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. This Aude town is home to 63 residents in 36 households, by the 2023 Census. 7% more people than in 2012. Empty homes are rarer here than in 84% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Aude 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 Bessède-de-Sault
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 98 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bessède-de-Sault, 70% of its 140 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 90% 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 Bessède-de-Sault’s residents are under 61.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 38% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Bessède-de-Sault’s households are one person: higher than in 94% of compared French towns; 50% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
70% of homes are second homes, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 household in five has no car (median compared French town: 11%). Higher than in 88% of compared French towns: 22% of households have no car. To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
A growing town: +7% since 2012, faster than 58% 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 −20%, and from 2017 to 2023 +34%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Aude town +4%.
In Bessède-de-Sault, 38% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 97% 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
■ Bessède-de-Sault 61.2. The median compared French town: 44.
7.9% of residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). By way of comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
59% women, 41% men
About 70 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A larger share of one-person households than 94% of compared French towns: 50%
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 Aude median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 1.8 people on average. As a reference point, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Nothing unusual on couples with children: 25%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 99% of compared French towns: 63%
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
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Bessède-de-Sault ranks above 75% of compared French towns on immigrants: 11%
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.
In the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals is 4.3%; Bessède-de-Sault has 7.9%. Typically, 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.
Bessède-de-Sault sits above 75% of compared French towns for married residents (46%)
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
Single residents: 25% of the total. The benchmark for married residents in the typical compared French town: 43%.
Bessède-de-Sault ranks above 70% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 23%
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
In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in Bessède-de-Sault, 25%. Across the comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
3rd highest median age among 41 French towns of 63 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Bessède-de-Sault 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 Bessède-de-Sault
What is the population of Bessède-de-Sault?
63 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (59).
How old are Bessède-de-Sault’s residents?
The median age is 61.2, older than 99% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 38% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bessède-de-Sault?
98, with occasional dwellings: 70% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bessède-de-Sault?
INSEE counts 7 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (7.9%). 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.