Photo: Cobber17 · CC BY-SA 3.0Blaye: 17% of homes stand empty, above 98% of compared French towns
With single-parent households at 14%, Blaye is ahead of 90% of compared French towns on that count. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 5,066, in 2,540 households. The share of households without a car stands at 21%. Compared with other places, second homes are common here: 4.3%, more than in 73% of compared French towns.
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 Blaye
Empty homes
The census found 550 homes empty (17%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
49% of Blaye’s households are one person: higher than in 93% of compared French towns; 39% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Blaye grew +8% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 61% 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 +3%; from 2017 to 2023, +5%.
Blaye sits above 67% of compared French towns for residents aged 65 and over (25%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Blaye 45.8. The median compared French town: 44.
There is little gap on residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Half of Blaye’s residents are over 45.8, older than in just over three fifths of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Gironde 51.8%, France 51.8%.
In Blaye, 14% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 92% 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
A household here holds 1.9 people on average. In the typical compared French town, couples with children come to 25%. Higher than in 93% of compared French towns: 49% of households are one person living alone.
Blaye sits above 67% of compared French towns for flats (43%)
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
Newcomers of less than two years account for 16% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 10%. Just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM), a lower share than in 51% of compared French towns.
Median living standard: €21,820 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 median standard of living in Blaye is €21,820 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 90% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 26.0% of residents.
Above 66% of compared French towns: 35% of households are headed by a retired person
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
Few places have so few households headed by a manual worker: 13% here, fewer than in nearly three fifths of compared French towns. Set beside that, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. About one in 11: that is how common households headed by a manager or professional are in Blaye (8.7%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 5.5% in Blaye, less than in 59% of compared French towns
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: 4.6% of the total. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% 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.
Blaye ranks below 94% of compared French towns on married residents: 33%
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
Where 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, Blaye has 32%. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Blaye ranks below 60% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 27%
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
The share of adults with no qualification stands at 20%. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 17th oldest of 41 French towns of 5,018 to 5,116 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 31.7 in Bezannes to 67.3 in Saint-Georges-de-Didonne.
Every neighbor is younger than Blaye
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaye | 45.8 | 25% | 4.3% | 5.5% |
| Margaux-Cantenac 2,845 · 6.5 mi | 41.8 | 17% | 3.5% | 4.6% |
| Pauillac 5,190 · 6.9 mi | 44 | 22% | 3% | 23% |
| Listrac-Médoc 2,807 · 7.7 mi | 40.6 | 15% | 3.8% | 3.8% |
| Avensan 3,140 · 8.2 mi | 40.3 | 16% | 0.9% | 3.5% |
| Saint-Laurent-Médoc 4,914 · 8.4 mi | 44.6 | 21% | 3% | 5.1% |
| Macau 4,576 · 8.6 mi | 40 | 16% | 2.6% | 4.5% |
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 Blaye
What is the population of Blaye?
5,066 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% more than in 2012 (4,710).
How old are Blaye’s residents?
The median age is 45.8, older than 61% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Blaye?
140, with occasional dwellings: 4.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Blaye?
INSEE counts 280 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.5% of residents, and 230 foreign nationals (4.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Blaye?
€21,820 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 26.0% 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 8, 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.