Couples with children: 34%, a higher share than 91% of compared French towns
With a median age of 39.3, Bellegarde is younger than 83% of compared French towns. Households in social housing account for 6.9%. The 2023 Census counted 8,035 residents in 3,290 households. Flats: 19%, below 71% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Gard 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 Bellegarde
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 12% single parents with children; 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing fast
Bellegarde had 6,500 residents at the 2012 census and 8,035 in 2023, up 24%: faster growth than in 93% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Bellegarde has grown +24%, faster than 93% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Gard town +7%. The first five years brought +10%; the six to 2023, +13%.
18% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 79% 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
■ Bellegarde 39.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Bellegarde has more residents aged 15 to 24 than 53% of compared French towns, at 11%. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Gard 51.9%, France 51.8%.
In Bellegarde, 28% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 86% 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 Gard median and the France median
Living alone · share
One in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town, against 12% in Bellegarde. Elsewhere, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2.4 people each.
7.6% of households have no car, fewer than in 69% 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
Car-free households: one in 13, where the median compared French town has 11%. 14% of households arrived within the last two years, while 15% have stayed 30 years or more. At 2.5%, the share of second homes is higher than in 56% of compared French towns.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €25,000 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 €25,000 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 60% of compared French towns. The poverty rate is 16.0%.
A smaller share of households headed by a retired person than 79% of compared French towns: 26%
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
With households headed by a manager or professional at 8%, Bellegarde is behind 59% of compared French towns on that count. Typically, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manual worker make up about one in five here (19%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Above 59% of compared French towns: 7.9% of residents are immigrants
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.
The census found that 4.6% of residents are foreign nationals in Bellegarde. For comparison, 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.
45% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 68% 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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Bellegarde comes in at 24%. On average, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 27%, a lower share than 59% 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
21% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). Typically, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 7,921 to 8,144 people: this is the 9th 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.
Linas is the youngest (33.8); Cavalaire-sur-Mer the oldest (57.1).
No nearby town is as young as Bellegarde
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellegarde | 39.3 | 18% | 2.5% | 7.9% |
| Garons 5,381 · 4.2 mi | 39.7 | 18% | 1.1% | 8.8% |
| Manduel 7,044 · 4.6 mi | 44.6 | 23% | 1% | 6.7% |
| Bouillargues 6,070 · 5.1 mi | 48.6 | 24% | 1.1% | 6.2% |
| Redessan 4,211 · 5.4 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 1.5% | 7.6% |
| Jonquières-Saint-Vincent 3,875 · 5.6 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 2.2% | 13% |
| Fourques 2,680 · 6 mi | 47.9 | 25% | 1.4% | 4.2% |
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 Bellegarde
What is the population of Bellegarde?
8,035 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 24% more than in 2012 (6,500).
How old are Bellegarde’s residents?
The median age is 39.3, younger than 83% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bellegarde?
92, with occasional dwellings: 2.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bellegarde?
INSEE counts 630 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.9% of residents, and 370 foreign nationals (4.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bellegarde?
€25,000 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.0% 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.