A smaller share of flats than 99% of compared French towns: 1.3%
52% of households are headed by a retired person, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Barro’s 180 households held 413 residents at the 2023 Census. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 27% locally. Higher than in 77% of compared French towns: 30% of households are couples with children.
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.
What stands out about the people of Barro
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 28 second homes and occasional dwellings in Barro, 12% of its 230 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 96% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Barro sits below 99% of compared French towns for households without a car (2.5%)
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
The share of second homes is 12%, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 5.3% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 18%. 7.4% of homes stand empty, more than in 58% of compared French towns. The wider picture: just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town.
Growth of +9% since 2012 puts Barro ahead of 66% 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 compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Charente town +1%.
Half of Barro is over 49.6, older than 82% 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
■ Barro 49.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are common here: 11%, more than in 57% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%.
Barro sits below 81% of compared French towns for one-person households (29%)
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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households average 2.3 people.
A typical living standard of €25,750 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 €25,750 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 52% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manual worker than 88% of compared French towns, at 7.8%
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 manager or professional make up 5.4%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 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).
6.2% of Barro’s residents are immigrants
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.
Foreign nationals: 4.8% of the total. On immigrants, Barro sits lower than 53% of compared French towns: 6.2%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer single residents than 93% of compared French towns: 20%
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
The figure for married residents is 50% in Barro and 43% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 93% of compared French towns, at 11%
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 Barro, 28%. As a reference point, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (413 to 2,582 people), the 14th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Older than Barro: 3 of the 4 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barro | 49.6 | 27% | 12% | 6.2% |
| Ruffec 3,449 · 2.4 mi | 55.8 | 37% | 4.9% | 10% |
| Civray 2,522 · 10 mi | 61 | 43% | 8.7% | 5.1% |
| Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure 3,111 · 16.2 mi | 52 | 32% | 2.5% | 4.7% |
| La Boixe 2,841 · 17.5 mi | 45.7 | 25% | 3.8% | 1.7% |
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 Barro
What is the population of Barro?
413 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (379).
How old are Barro’s residents?
The median age is 49.6, older than 82% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Barro?
28, with occasional dwellings: 12% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Barro?
INSEE counts 26 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.2% of residents, and 20 foreign nationals (4.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Barro?
€25,750 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.