Empty homes: 2.5%, a lower share than 97% of compared French towns
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 7.2%, Bren is behind 96% of compared French towns on that count. 3.7% of households have no car. Flats are rarer here than in 80% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 709, in 300 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 Bren
Growing fast
Bren had 536 residents at the 2012 census and 709 in 2023, up 32%: faster growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, Bren outgrew 97% of compared French towns: +32%
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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +8% for the median Drôme town, the change came in two steps: +5% from 2012 to 2017, then +26% to 2023.
Bren is younger than 82% of compared French towns: a median age of 39.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bren 39.5. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over; in Bren, 19%.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Drôme 51.8%, France 51.8%.
In Bren, 27% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 88% 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
In the typical compared French town, a quarter of households are couples with children; in Bren, 29%. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Each household has 2.4 people on average. Few places have as many single-parent households: 10% here, more than in 53% of compared French towns.
Second homes make up 5.6% in Bren, more than in 79% 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
In the last two years, 8.5% of households moved in; at the other end, 22% have stayed 30 years or more. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing are rarer here than in just over three quarters of compared French towns.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €28,720 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.
At €28,720 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 77% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker: 22%, a higher share than 90% 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
Nearly a tenth of Bren’s households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 37% by a retired person (32%). Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 56% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 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).
Only 3.9% of residents are immigrants in Bren
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.
In Bren, 2.4% of residents are foreign nationals, beside 4.3% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
18% of residents 15 and over are single, below 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
With married residents at 50%, Bren is ahead of 92% of compared French towns on that count. Against that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of adults with no qualification than 90% of compared French towns: 12%
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
Graduates of higher education make up 34%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (709 to 2,582 people), the 2nd youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as young as Bren
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bren | 39.5 | 19% | 5.6% | 3.9% |
| Saint-Donat-sur-l'Herbasse 4,193 · 2.5 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 3.3% | 3.3% |
| Mercurol-Veaunes 2,816 · 5.1 mi | 41.8 | 18% | 4.5% | 2.2% |
| Peyrins 2,613 · 6 mi | 47.3 | 23% | 4.1% | 3% |
| Tain-l'Hermitage 5,915 · 6.5 mi | 44 | 23% | 3.9% | 6.8% |
| Saint-Vallier 4,027 · 6.5 mi | 45.2 | 25% | 2.5% | 13% |
| Tournon-sur-Rhône 11,279 · 7.4 mi | 44.3 | 24% | 2.3% | 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 Bren
What is the population of Bren?
709 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 32% more than in 2012 (536).
How old are Bren’s residents?
The median age is 39.5, younger than 82% of compared French towns. 26% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bren?
18, with occasional dwellings: 5.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bren?
INSEE counts 28 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.9% of residents, and 17 foreign nationals (2.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bren?
€28,720 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 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.