A lower share of couples with children than 99% of compared French towns, at 9.1%
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 5.5%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Here, 73% of households are headed by a retired person. Ballons has fewer flats than 87% of compared French towns, at 9.8%. The 2023 Census counted 88 residents in 50 households.
Throughout this page, the Drôme 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 Ballons
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 37 second homes and occasional dwellings in Ballons, 41% of its 91 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 89% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
55% of Ballons’ households are one person: higher than in 98% of compared French towns; 35% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
An older town
Half of Ballons’ residents are under 54.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More second homes than 96% of compared French towns: 41%
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
Car-free households: one in 17, where the median compared French town has 11%. On households without a car, Ballons sits lower than just over four fifths of compared French towns: 5.8%. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. The census found that 3.3% of homes stand empty in the town.
Ballons grew +11% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 74% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was +5%; from 2017 to 2023, +6%.
Older than 94% of compared French towns: half of Ballons is over 54.7
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ballons 54.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Here just over a third of residents are 65 or over, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 22%.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Drôme 51.8%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Above 98% of compared French towns: 55% 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 Drôme median and the France median
Living alone · share
At 9.1%, single-parent households sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town. Against that, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households here average 1.8 people each.
Ballons ranks below 82% of compared French towns on households headed by a manual worker: 9.1%
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. The usual figure: 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).
A larger share of foreign nationals than 67% of compared French towns: 6.6%
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.
With immigrants at 5.5%, Ballons is behind nearly three fifths of compared French towns on that count. Measured more widely, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
A lower share of single residents than 86% of compared French towns, at 21%
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: 38%, below 78% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
More adults with no qualification than 75% of compared French towns: 24%
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
28% of Ballons’ residents 15 and over who have left education hold a higher-education diploma, against 30% in the median compared French town; 24% have no diploma (19%).
The 7th oldest of 41 French towns of 88 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.
Ballons 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballons | 54.7 | 34% | 41% | 5.5% |
| Laragne-Montéglin 3,549 · 10.2 mi | 54.7 | 33% | 5.2% | 8.7% |
| Sisteron 7,850 · 15.3 mi | 47.6 | 27% | 6.3% | 12% |
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 Ballons
What is the population of Ballons?
88 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% more than in 2012 (79).
How old are Ballons’ residents?
The median age is 54.7, older than 94% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ballons?
37, with occasional dwellings: 41% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ballons?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.5% of residents, and 6 foreign nationals (6.6%). 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.