A median age of 35.6: Besançon is younger than 95% of compared French towns
Flats: 86%, above 97% of compared French towns. Couples with children are rarer here than in 96% of compared French towns. Besançon had 118,489 residents in 64,220 households at the 2023 Census. 28% of households have no car, or about one in four.
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 Besançon
Many people living alone
57% of Besançon’s households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 45% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
A young town
Half of Besançon’s residents are under 35.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 14% are under 15 and 19% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of +2% since 2012 leaves Besançon behind 62% 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
In two steps, ±0% to 2017 and +2% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −1% in Doubs.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 21% of residents are 15 to 24
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Besançon 35.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 19% here and 22% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 57% of households are one person living alone
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
Each household has 1.8 people on average. On average, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. 9.6% of households are single parents, fewer than in 57% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households in social housing than 82% of compared French towns: 22%
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
One household in four has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. Empty homes account for 9.5%. Higher than in 56% of compared French towns: 2.5% of homes are second homes. Across the comparison, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
€23,240 a year: the median standard of living
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 midpoint of living standards here is €23,240 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 79% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 24.0% of residents.
Besançon sits below 84% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (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
Households headed by a manual worker make up 12%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, nearly a third 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).
Immigrants: 15%, a higher share than 85% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Besançon comes in at 11%. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 28% of residents 15 and over are married in Besançon
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 42% of residents 15 and over are single, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Graduates of higher education make up 41% in Besançon, more than in 81% 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
Census figures put adults with no qualification at 19% in Besançon. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 21st oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 30 in Poitiers to 42 in Perpignan.
No nearby town is as young as Besançon
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Besançon | 35.6 | 19% | 2.5% | 15% |
| École-Valentin 2,579 · 2.4 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 1.6% | 6.1% |
| Miserey-Salines 2,661 · 3.5 mi | 42.7 | 24% | 0.9% | 4.6% |
| Thise 2,994 · 3.9 mi | 53.1 | 34% | 0.8% | 3.6% |
| Les Auxons 2,533 · 4.7 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 0.7% | 3.7% |
| Saône 3,195 · 5 mi | 46.1 | 24% | 0.7% | 3.3% |
| Saint-Vit 5,133 · 10.3 mi | 43.1 | 22% | 1.2% | 5.8% |
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 Besançon
What is the population of Besançon?
118,489 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (116,353).
How old are Besançon’s residents?
The median age is 35.6, younger than 95% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Besançon?
1,860, with occasional dwellings: 2.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Besançon?
INSEE counts 17,500 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 15% of residents, and 13,430 foreign nationals (11%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Besançon?
€23,240 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 24.0% 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.