In Balzac, 0.8% of homes are flats, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
Just over a fifth of households are one person living alone, against 35% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census, 1,410 people lived in Balzac, in 610 households. Put another way, about one in 53: 1.9% of households rent social housing (HLM). Households without a car are rarer here than in 94% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Charente 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.
Balzac grew +6% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 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
The median Charente town changed +1% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +1% and the next six +5%.
A median age of 47.6: Balzac is older than 73% 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
■ Balzac 47.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 24%, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%.
Balzac: 29% of households are couples with children, above 73% 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 median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households: 9.3%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, a quarter of households are couples with children. Households average 2.3 people.
5.8% of homes stand empty, fewer than in 63% 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
Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 8.2% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 31%. For comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. At 2.3%, the share of second homes is higher than in 53% of compared French towns.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €28,770 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.
Half of Balzac’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €28,770 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 77% of compared French towns.
In Balzac, 41% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 86% 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
Households headed by a manual worker account for 15%. Balzac has more households headed by a manager or professional than 54% of compared French towns, at 10%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
2% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 92% 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.
In Balzac, 1.4% of residents are foreign nationals, beside 4.3% in the typical compared French town. On average, 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.
In Balzac, 17% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 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
Here 53% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 15% in Balzac, less than in 74% 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
Graduates of higher education account for 31%. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41 French towns of 1,410 to 2,582 people: this is 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
A younger town than 3 of the 6 around it: Balzac
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balzac | 47.6 | 24% | 2.3% | 2% |
| Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente 7,539 · 2.5 mi | 47.5 | 28% | 1.5% | 5.6% |
| Gond-Pontouvre 5,862 · 2.8 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 1.7% | 5.5% |
| Champniers 5,281 · 3 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 1.7% | 2.4% |
| Fléac 3,861 · 3.5 mi | 49.1 | 26% | 0.5% | 3.9% |
| La Boixe 2,841 · 3.7 mi | 45.7 | 25% | 3.8% | 1.7% |
| L'Isle-d'Espagnac 5,682 · 4.2 mi | 49.7 | 30% | 0.9% | 6.3% |
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 Balzac
What is the population of Balzac?
1,410 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (1,326).
How old are Balzac’s residents?
The median age is 47.6, older than 73% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Balzac?
15, with occasional dwellings: 2.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Balzac?
INSEE counts 28 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2% of residents, and 19 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Balzac?
€28,770 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.