Second homes: 32%, a higher share than 95% of compared French towns
The share of households headed by a retired person tops 97% of compared French towns: 50%. There were 35 households in Bésignan at the 2023 Census, home to 76 residents. Across Bésignan, a quarter of households are single parents. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
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 Bésignan
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 18 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bésignan, 32% of its 57 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 94% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Bésignan had 64 residents at the 2012 census and 76 in 2023, up 19%: faster growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Bésignan ranks below 99% of compared French towns on households without a car: 2.9%
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
The share of flats is 12%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. For households without a car, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 11%. 7% of homes stand empty, or about one in 14.
A growing town: +19% since 2012, faster than 88% 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 +28%; from 2017 to 2023, −7%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Drôme town +8%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 5.3%, a lower share than 99% 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
■ Bésignan 46. The median compared French town: 44.
22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, against 30% in Bésignan. What’s more, with a median age of 46, Bésignan is older than 63% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
One-person households: 38%, a higher share than 60% of compared French towns
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
The average household has 2.2 people. The share of one-person households in the typical compared French town is 35%. A quarter of households are couples with children, fewer than in 51% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker: 12%, a lower share than 60% 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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 6.6% of Bésignan’s residents
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.
Foreign nationals are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. About one in 15: that is how common immigrants are in Bésignan (6.6%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Bésignan sits below 99% of compared French towns for single residents (14%)
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
For Bésignan, the census puts married residents at 44%. Across the comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Bésignan ranks above 71% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 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
Here 34% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%.
The 19th oldest of 41 French towns of 76 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 young as Bésignan
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bésignan | 46 | 30% | 32% | 6.6% |
| Nyons 6,816 · 9.5 mi | 60.6 | 43% | 17% | 9.9% |
| Vaison-la-Romaine 6,058 · 13.3 mi | 56.6 | 38% | 15% | 12% |
| Malaucène 2,758 · 13.5 mi | 51.5 | 30% | 34% | 7.3% |
| Bédoin 3,106 · 15.2 mi | 56.4 | 36% | 32% | 7.1% |
| Valréas 9,224 · 16.7 mi | 49.4 | 30% | 4.6% | 14% |
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 Bésignan
What is the population of Bésignan?
76 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 19% more than in 2012 (64).
How old are Bésignan’s residents?
The median age is 46, older than 63% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bésignan?
18, with occasional dwellings: 32% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bésignan?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.6% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). 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.