Brioude ranks above 98% of compared French towns on empty homes: 18%
The share of couples with children trails 89% of compared French towns: 16%. The 2023 Census counted 6,527 residents in 3,350 households. 5.3% of its homes are second homes; 7.5% of residents are immigrants. Households headed by a retired person are more common here than in 90% of compared French towns.
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 Brioude
Empty homes
The census found 770 homes empty (18%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Brioude’s residents are under 51.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
48% of Brioude’s households are one person: higher than in 91% of compared French towns; 37% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−1% since 2012, a pace below 76% 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 those years, the median Haute-Loire town changed +2% and the median compared French town +5%.
A median age of 51.8: Brioude is older than 88% 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
■ Brioude 51.8. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 trails four fifths of compared French towns: 9.1%. On the census count, nearly a third of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Haute-Loire 51.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Brioude ranks above 91% of compared French towns on one-person households: 48%
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
Average household size: 1.9 people. Nearly one in ten households are single parents, a lower share than in 78% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
21% of households have no car, more than in 86% 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
19% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 12% moved in within the last two years. Elsewhere, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. Flats are more common here than in two thirds of compared French towns.
A median standard of living of €23,000 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.
At €23,000 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 82% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 21.0%.
Only 5.7% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Brioude
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
The share of households headed by a manual worker tops 74% of compared French towns: 18%. The comparison figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Brioude ranks above 57% of compared French towns on immigrants: 7.5%
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 higher than in 57% of compared French towns. Immigrants make up 6.5% in the typical compared French town. In Brioude, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Brioude sits below 72% of compared French towns for married residents (39%)
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
In Brioude, just over a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. The benchmark for married residents in the typical compared French town: 43%.
Graduates of higher education make up 22% in Brioude, less than in 80% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%; Brioude has 26%. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
4th highest median age among 41 French towns of 6,479 to 6,571
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villers-Saint-Paul is the youngest (36.9); Gueugnon the oldest (58).
Brioude is younger than 1 of its 3 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brioude | 51.8 | 32% | 5.3% | 7.5% |
| Sainte-Florine 3,283 · 8.2 mi | 47.1 | 26% | 2.9% | 3.5% |
| Brassac-les-Mines 3,412 · 8.9 mi | 50.6 | 31% | 2.2% | 3.6% |
| Langeac 3,499 · 14.7 mi | 56.6 | 38% | 12% | 6.1% |
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 Brioude
What is the population of Brioude?
6,527 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% fewer than in 2012 (6,616).
How old are Brioude’s residents?
The median age is 51.8, older than 88% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Brioude?
230, with occasional dwellings: 5.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Brioude?
INSEE counts 490 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.5% of residents, and 280 foreign nationals (4.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Brioude?
€23,000 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.0% 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 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.