Households without a car make up 3.2% in Bessamorel, less than in 98% of compared French towns
Set against 6.7% in the typical compared French town, 3.6% of homes stand empty in Bessamorel. Few places have so few households headed by a retired person: 19% here, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns. This Haute-Loire town had 432 residents in 190 households at the 2023 census. The census found that 15% of residents are 65 or over here.
Throughout this page, the Haute-Loire 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 Bessamorel
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 27 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bessamorel, 12% of its 220 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Below 97% of compared French towns: 4.1% of homes are flats
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
Against a figure of 2.1% in the typical compared French town, the share of second homes in Bessamorel comes in at 12%. Set beside that, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Bessamorel’s population changed by +5% since 2012, more than in 50% 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 +11%; from 2017 to 2023, −6%.
A median age of 45.5: Bessamorel is older than 60% 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
■ Bessamorel 45.5. The median compared French town: 44.
On the census count, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Haute-Loire 51.9%, France 51.8%.
A smaller share of single-parent households than 99% of compared French towns: 2.7%
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 Haute-Loire median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 2.3 people each. On average, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. 27% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 89% of compared French towns. By its share of couples with children (32%), Bessamorel is above 86% of compared French towns.
€25,480 a year: the median standard of living
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 €25,480 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 55% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker make up 27% in Bessamorel, more than in 98% 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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in Bessamorel. The comparison figure for households headed by a manual worker is 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.2% of residents are immigrants, below 99% 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.
The median compared commune in Haute-Loire has 3.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns. By way of 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.
Bessamorel: 49% of residents 15 and over are married, above 89% 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
22% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Bessamorel ranks below 85% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 13%
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
30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Ranked by age, 21st oldest of 41 French towns this size
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 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Bessamorel and its 6 nearest towns: 5 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessamorel | 45.5 | 15% | 12% | 1.2% |
| Yssingeaux 7,415 · 2.4 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 9.2% | 3.2% |
| Retournac 3,007 · 6.2 mi | 51.1 | 32% | 17% | 3.8% |
| Saint-Maurice-de-Lignon 2,688 · 7 mi | 41.2 | 19% | 7.1% | 1.9% |
| Saint-Germain-Laprade 3,432 · 8.5 mi | 47.9 | 23% | 3.7% | 2.2% |
| Beauzac 2,954 · 9 mi | 46.6 | 23% | 17% | 1.5% |
| Brives-Charensac 4,244 · 9.6 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 2.3% | 5.7% |
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 Bessamorel
What is the population of Bessamorel?
432 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (412).
How old are Bessamorel’s residents?
The median age is 45.5, older than 60% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bessamorel?
27, with occasional dwellings: 12% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bessamorel?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.2% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bessamorel?
€25,480 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 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.