In Bignay, 30% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 99% of compared French towns
With a median age of 48.5, Bignay is older than 77% of compared French towns. On the census count, 8% of homes are second homes. In 2023, the Census found 359 residents in the town, living in 170 households. The figure for households without a car is 6.5% in Bignay and 11% in the typical compared French town.
Throughout this page, the Charente-Maritime 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 Bignay
Fewer residents than in 2012
Bignay had 445 residents at the 2012 census and 359 in 2023, down 19%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Bignay has changed by −19%, slower than 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
The first five years brought −8%; the six to 2023, −13%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 8.8%, a lower share than 84% 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
■ Bignay 48.5. The median compared French town: 44.
More residents aged 65 and over than in 52% of compared French towns: 23%. The usual figure: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente-Maritime 53.1%, France 51.8%.
21% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 68% 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 Charente-Maritime median and the France median
Living alone · share
In Bignay, 33% of households are one person living alone, beside 35% in the typical compared French town. By contrast, on single-parent households, Bignay sits higher than 75% of compared French towns: 12%. For couples with children, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%. Households here average 2.1 people each.
A larger share of empty homes than 63% of compared French towns: 8%
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 in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Just over one in ten households moved in less than two years ago; 23% have been in their home 30 years or more.
Median living standard: €26,240 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 €26,240 a year: higher than in 53% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 5.7%, a lower share than 80% 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
Nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, against 29% in Bignay. As a yardstick, nearly one in ten 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).
Only 1.6% of residents are immigrants in Bignay
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, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Bignay, 1.4%. The median compared commune in Charente-Maritime has 3.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 95% of compared French towns. For comparison, 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.
Single residents: 17%, a lower share than 99% 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
Compared with 43% in the typical compared French town, 46% of residents 15 and over are married here. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
In Bignay, 16% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns
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
Locally, 18% of adults out of school have no qualification. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 359 to 2,582 people, the 15th 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).
Bignay is younger than every town 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bignay | 48.5 | 23% | 8% | 1.6% |
| Saint-Jean-d'Angély 6,784 · 4.4 mi | 56 | 36% | 4.6% | 4.5% |
| Saint-Georges-des-Coteaux 2,843 · 11.4 mi | 51.3 | 30% | 2.4% | 2.1% |
| Saintes 25,363 · 12.2 mi | 52.1 | 32% | 2.7% | 5.5% |
| Chaniers 3,651 · 13 mi | 50.9 | 29% | 4% | 2% |
| Tonnay-Charente 8,289 · 14 mi | 49 | 27% | 1.6% | 3% |
| Surgères 6,897 · 14.7 mi | 52 | 33% | 2.3% | 2.8% |
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 Bignay
What is the population of Bignay?
359 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 19% fewer than in 2012 (445).
How old are Bignay’s residents?
The median age is 48.5, older than 77% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bignay?
16, with occasional dwellings: 8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bignay?
INSEE counts 6 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.6% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bignay?
€26,240 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.