Older than 79% of compared French towns: half of Bavans is over 48.9
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Bavans has 17%. This Doubs town had 3,582 residents in 1,650 households at the 2023 Census. About one in 13: that is how common single-parent households are in Bavans (7.9%). At 8.6%, the share of households without a car is lower than in 62% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Doubs 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 Bavans
Fewer residents than in 2012
Bavans had 3,736 residents at the 2012 census and 3,582 in 2023, down 4%: slower growth than in 85% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −4% since 2012, behind 85% 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 years 2012 to 2017 brought −3%; 2017 to 2023, −2%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Doubs town −1%.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 73% of compared French towns, at 26%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bavans 48.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 8.9%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%.
Only 22% of households are couples with children in Bavans
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 Doubs median and the France median
Living alone · share
One-person households: 33% here and 35% in the typical compared French town. For couples with children, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%. Each household has 2.2 people on average.
A smaller share of second homes than 83% of compared French towns: 0.9%
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
Just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, against 14% in Bavans. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%. The share of flats stands at 27%. This Doubs town has fewer empty homes than 55% of compared French towns, at 6.3%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €25,830 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.
The median standard of living in Bavans is €25,830 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 51% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 11.0% of residents.
Households headed by a retired person: 41%, a higher share than 85% 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
9% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 52% of compared French towns. Against that, 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).
Bavans sits below 62% of compared French towns for immigrants (5.1%)
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.
The median compared commune in Doubs has 8.5%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 62% of compared French towns. Against that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. 3.4% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Bavans ranks above 96% of compared French towns on married residents: 52%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%; Bavans has 20%. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Bavans sits below 74% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (23%)
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
24% of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 11th oldest of 41 French towns of 3,550 to 3,611 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 Neuilly-Crimolois (37.2), the oldest Montrichard Val de Cher (57.5).
Bavans is older 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bavans | 48.9 | 26% | 0.9% | 5.1% |
| Voujeaucourt 3,174 · 1.8 mi | 47.4 | 23% | 0.7% | 6% |
| Montbéliard 24,672 · 3.4 mi | 41.2 | 24% | 2.5% | 20% |
| Mandeure 4,612 · 4.6 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 0.9% | 7.7% |
| Bethoncourt 5,308 · 4.7 mi | 41.1 | 23% | 0.8% | 24% |
| Valentigney 10,501 · 4.7 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 1.7% | 17% |
| Exincourt 3,277 · 4.7 mi | 46.7 | 27% | 0.8% | 10% |
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 Bavans
What is the population of Bavans?
3,582 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (3,736).
How old are Bavans’ residents?
The median age is 48.9, older than 79% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bavans?
16, with occasional dwellings: 0.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bavans?
INSEE counts 180 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.1% of residents, and 120 foreign nationals (3.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bavans?
€25,830 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 11.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.