Half of Benest is over 60.3, older than 98% of compared French towns
0.3% of homes are flats; in the typical compared French town the figure is 30%. Benest has fewer couples with children than 89% of compared French towns, at 16%. Census day 2023: 307 residents and 170 households here. In Benest, 4.4% of households have no car.
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 Benest
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 110 second homes and occasional dwellings in Benest, 36% of its 320 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 100% 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 Benest’s residents are under 60.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 39% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 100 immigrants in Benest (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 21% of residents, against 4.8% for the median compared commune in Charente. 20% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Benest had 337 residents at the 2012 census and 307 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A higher share of second homes than 96% of compared French towns, at 36%
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
Newcomers of less than two years account for 7.4% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 24%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for second homes is 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Here 11% of homes stand empty, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 6.7%.
A −9% change since 2012: slower than 96% 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 the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Charente town +1%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was −7%; from 2017 to 2023, −3%.
39% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 98% 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
■ Benest 60.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 6.7%, below 98% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%.
41% of households are one person living alone, more than in 72% 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
There are 1.8 people in the average household. 8.8% of households are single parents, a lower share than in 69% of compared French towns. As a reference point, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Median standard of living: €22,600 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 Benest’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €22,600 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
Benest sits above 88% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (42%)
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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. 14% of households are headed by a manual worker. By way of comparison, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
More immigrants than 93% of compared French towns: 21%
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: 20%, above 96% of compared French towns. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 97% of compared French towns: 19% 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
Married residents make up 47%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Only 23% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Benest
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
With adults with no qualification at 21%, Benest is ahead of 62% of compared French towns on that count. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 4th oldest of 41 French towns of 307 to 2,582 people
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).
Benest sits below 1 of its 5 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benest | 60.3 | 39% | 36% | 21% |
| Confolens 2,730 · 10.5 mi | 58.2 | 39% | 8.8% | 11% |
| Civray 2,522 · 10.7 mi | 61 | 43% | 8.7% | 5.1% |
| Ruffec 3,449 · 12.2 mi | 55.8 | 37% | 4.9% | 10% |
| Terres-de-Haute-Charente 3,777 · 12.5 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 5.1% | 7.6% |
| Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure 3,111 · 14.7 mi | 52 | 32% | 2.5% | 4.7% |
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 Benest
What is the population of Benest?
307 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (337).
How old are Benest’s residents?
The median age is 60.3, older than 98% of compared French towns. 8.7% are under 18 and 39% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Benest?
110, with occasional dwellings: 36% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Benest?
INSEE counts 64 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 21% of residents, and 60 foreign nationals (20%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Benest?
€22,600 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.