Photo: Sylvain Machefert · CC BY-SA 4.0A median age of 38: Bruges is younger than 88% of compared French towns
Flats: 64% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census Bruges was home to 20,020 people in 9,720 households. Across Bruges, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manual worker. Compared with other places, households in social housing are common here: 22%, more than in just over four fifths 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 Bruges
Growing fast
Bruges had 16,269 residents at the 2012 census and 20,020 in 2023, up 23%: faster growth than in 93% of compared French towns. Population ↓
A young town
Half of Bruges’ residents are under 38 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 17% are under 15 and 15% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Many graduates
47% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 19% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Growth of +23% since 2012 puts Bruges ahead of 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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Gironde town +16%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought +10%; 2017 to 2023, +12%.
Below 91% of compared French towns: 15% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bruges 38. The median compared French town: 44.
Where just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Bruges has 12%. Across the comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Gironde 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Bruges: 42% of households are one person living alone, above 75% 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
Each household has 2 people on average. As a reference point, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Lower than in two thirds of compared French towns: 22% of households are couples with children. Single-parent households: 12%, above 77% of compared French towns.
Below 55% of compared French towns: 9.7% of households have no car
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
One household in 10 has no car (median compared French town: 11%). Second homes account for 1.9%.
A typical living standard of €28,780 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.
Half of residents live in households above €28,780 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 77% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 10.4%.
A lower share of households headed by a retired person than 93% of compared French towns, at 21%
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: 19% here and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town: 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals: 5.9%, a higher share than 63% 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.
Immigrants: 7.6% here and 6.5% in the typical compared French town. That is higher than in 57% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Gironde has 5.1%. In the typical compared French town, foreign nationals come to 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Bruges sits below 95% of compared French towns for 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
With single residents at 30%, Bruges is ahead of 78% of compared French towns on that count. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
In Bruges, 10% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 95% 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
The share of graduates of higher education tops 90% of compared French towns: 47%. Elsewhere, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 19,425 to 20,690 people, the 13th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Denain (34), the youngest, and Royan (64.5), the oldest.
Older than Bruges: 5 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruges | 38 | 15% | 1.9% | 7.6% |
| Le Bouscat 25,081 · 1 mi | 43.3 | 23% | 2.4% | 8.6% |
| Eysines 24,825 · 2.1 mi | 39.3 | 18% | 1.2% | 9.6% |
| Bordeaux 267,991 · 2.6 mi | 33.9 | 15% | 6.9% | 12% |
| Blanquefort 17,215 · 3.1 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 1.5% | 8% |
| Mérignac 78,090 · 3.7 mi | 38.4 | 18% | 4.3% | 11% |
| Le Haillan 11,392 · 3.7 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 1.3% | 6.3% |
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 Bruges
What is the population of Bruges?
20,020 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 23% more than in 2012 (16,269).
How old are Bruges’ residents?
The median age is 38, younger than 88% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bruges?
210, with occasional dwellings: 1.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bruges?
INSEE counts 1,510 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.6% of residents, and 1,180 foreign nationals (5.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bruges?
€28,780 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 10.4% 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.