Half of Bègles is under 37.6, younger than 89% of compared French towns
Compared with 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 20% of households are headed by a manager or professional here. 43% of households are one person living alone, a higher share than in 80% of compared French towns. Bègles had 31,831 residents in 15,500 households at the 2023 census. On the census count, 54% of homes are flats.
Throughout this page, the Gironde 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 Bègles
Growing fast
Bègles had 25,380 residents at the 2012 census and 31,831 in 2023, up 25%: faster growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
A young town
Half of Bègles’ residents are under 37.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 16% are under 15 and 16% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Growth of +25% since 2012 puts Bègles ahead of 94% 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 population moved +13%, and from 2017 to 2023 +11%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Gironde town +16%.
Bègles sits above 90% of compared French towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (14%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bègles 37.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 16%, below 87% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 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: Gironde 51.8%, France 51.8%.
21% of households are couples with children, below 69% 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 Gironde median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2 people in the average household. The comparison figure for couples with children is 25% in the typical compared French town. Where 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Bègles has 11%.
A larger share of households in social housing than 81% of compared French towns: 22%
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
Long tenure is the mark of 11% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 15% (under two years). To put it in context, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. Bègles has more households without a car than 79% of compared French towns, at 18%. There is little gap on empty homes: 5.8%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €26,340 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 €26,340 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 54% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 16.4% of residents are below the line.
22% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 92% 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 manual worker: 10% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for households headed by a retired person is 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A higher share of immigrants than 77% of compared French towns, at 12%
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, 9.6% of residents are foreign nationals in Bègles. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A smaller share of married residents than 97% of compared French towns: 31%
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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 32% of residents 15 and over are single in Bègles. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
In Bègles, 46% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 89% 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
14% of adults out of school have no qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 19%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 12th youngest of 41 French towns of 30,098 to 33,692 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.
At the ends of the range sit Savigny-le-Temple (33.4), the youngest, and Aix-les-Bains (48.5), the oldest.
Bègles and its 6 nearest towns: 4 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Bègles
What is the population of Bègles?
31,831 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 25% more than in 2012 (25,380).
How old are Bègles’ residents?
The median age is 37.6, younger than 89% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bègles?
370, with occasional dwellings: 2.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bègles?
INSEE counts 3,750 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 12% of residents, and 3,070 foreign nationals (9.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bègles?
€26,340 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.4% 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 9, 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.