Bief is older than 98% of compared French towns: a median age of 60.3
Households headed by a retired person: 45% here and 32% in the typical compared French town. The 2023 Census counted 108 residents in 56 households. The census found that 1.8% of households have no car in Bief. The town has more second homes than 83% of compared French towns, at 7%.
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 Bief
An older town
Half of Bief’s residents are under 60.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 44% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.3% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 10 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
±0% since 2012, a pace below 70% 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, +6% to 2017 and −5% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −1% in Doubs.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 44% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bief 60.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 6.5% of residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. On average, 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: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%.
Only 18% of households are couples with children in Bief
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
On single-parent households, 9.1% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town. Households average 1.9 people. 36% of households are one person living alone, more than in 55% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
In Bief, 2.8% of homes are flats, fewer than in 99% 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
By its share of empty homes (14%), Bief is above 94% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
A median standard of living of €30,810 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 midpoint of living standards here is €30,810 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 88% of compared French towns.
In Bief, 36% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 99% 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
Households headed by a manager or professional make up about one in 11 here (9.1%). Typically, 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).
Bief sits below 99% of compared French towns for immigrants (0.9%)
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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 0.9% of residents are foreign nationals in Bief. 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.
53% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 98% 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
Single residents: 19% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
In Bief, 24% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 71% 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
Locally, a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. Typically, 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 108 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as old as Bief
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bief | 60.3 | 44% | 7% | 0.9% |
| Pont-de-Roide-Vermondans 3,912 · 4.4 mi | 51.8 | 30% | 1.8% | 4.6% |
| Maîche 4,254 · 5.4 mi | 42.4 | 23% | 2.7% | 9.2% |
| Charquemont 2,900 · 8.1 mi | 37.9 | 16% | 3.4% | 7.7% |
| Mandeure 4,612 · 8.7 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 0.9% | 7.7% |
| Hérimoncourt 3,508 · 9.5 mi | 42.6 | 21% | 0.2% | 6.3% |
| Valentigney 10,501 · 10.1 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 1.7% | 17% |
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 Bief
What is the population of Bief?
108 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (108).
How old are Bief’s residents?
The median age is 60.3, older than 98% of compared French towns. 12% are under 18 and 44% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bief?
5, with occasional dwellings: 7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bief?
INSEE counts 1 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.9% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bief?
€30,810 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.