More second homes than 94% of compared French towns: 27%
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Brain had 36 residents in 18 households at the 2023 Census. Locally, 25% of households are headed by a manual worker. Here 26% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 22%.
Throughout this page, the Côte-d'Or 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 Brain
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 8 second homes and occasional dwellings in Brain, 27% of its 29 homes: higher than in 94% 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 ↓
Growing fast
Brain had 30 residents at the 2012 census and 36 in 2023, up 20%: faster growth than in 90% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 3 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Empty homes: 12%, a higher share than 88% 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
Households without a car are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Some 32% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 21% who have been there 30 years or more.
Brain grew +20% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 90% 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 Côte-d'Or town changed −2% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +17% and the next six +3%.
A median age of 40.2: Brain is younger than 78% 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
■ Brain 40.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up about one in ten here (10%).
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Côte-d'Or 52.8%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A lower share of one-person households than 94% of compared French towns, at 25%
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 Côte-d'Or median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2.1 people. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A higher share of households headed by a manager or professional than 94% of compared French towns, at 25%
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
32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, against 25% in Brain. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 86% of compared French towns: 2.6% of 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.
4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, against 2.6% in Brain. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% 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: 12%, 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
Here 27% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Fewer adults with no qualification than 97% of compared French towns: 9.1%
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, the share of graduates of higher education is 30%; Brain has 36%. By way of comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
3rd lowest median age among 41 French towns of 36 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.
Brain 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brain | 40.2 | 26% | 27% | 2.6% |
| Venarey-les-Laumes 2,747 · 5.8 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 3.1% | 5.4% |
| Semur-en-Auxois 3,986 · 8 mi | 50.9 | 29% | 9.3% | 5.6% |
| Montbard 4,639 · 13.8 mi | 52.9 | 33% | 3.8% | 7.3% |
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 Brain
What is the population of Brain?
36 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% more than in 2012 (30).
How old are Brain’s residents?
The median age is 40.2, younger than 78% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Brain?
8, with occasional dwellings: 27% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Brain?
INSEE counts 1 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.6% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (2.6%). 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.