Older than 93% of compared French towns: half of Barcillonnette is over 54.6
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In Barcillonnette, 15% of homes are flats. This Hautes-Alpes town is home to 148 residents in 83 households, by the 2023 Census. Nearly two in five households are headed by a retired person, against 32% in the typical compared French town.
Throughout this page, the Hautes-Alpes 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 Barcillonnette
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 27 second homes and occasional dwellings in Barcillonnette, 23% of its 120 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 59% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Barcillonnette’s residents are under 54.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 28% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 3.4% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Barcillonnette’s households are one person: higher than in 94% of compared French towns; 38% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Many graduates
48% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 11% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
23% of homes in Barcillonnette are second homes
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Long tenure is the mark of 11% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 8.4% (under two years). At 6%, empty homes sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Barcillonnette changed by +1% from 2012 to 2023, behind 67% 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 −7%; from 2017 to 2023, +9%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Hautes-Alpes town +2%.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 4.7% in Barcillonnette, less than in 99% 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
■ Barcillonnette 54.6. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 22%; Barcillonnette has 28%. On average, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Hautes-Alpes 52.7%, France 51.8%.
Barcillonnette sits above 94% of compared French towns for one-person households (50%)
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 Hautes-Alpes median and the France median
Living alone · share
Where a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, Barcillonnette has 22%. Households here average 1.8 people each. Elsewhere, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Median living standard: €26,410 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €26,410 a year: higher than in 55% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker: 22%, a higher share than 91% 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 manager or professional: 5.6%, below four fifths of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of immigrants than 91% of compared French towns, at 2%
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 Hautes-Alpes has 7.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 91% of compared French towns. Against that, 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.
Barcillonnette sits below 99% of compared French towns for single residents (17%)
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
30% of residents 15 and over are married; in the typical compared French town the figure is 43%. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
48% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 91% 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
11% of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (148 to 2,582 people), the 7th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Barcillonnette sits below 1 of its 5 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcillonnette | 54.6 | 28% | 23% | 2% |
| Veynes 3,214 · 8.5 mi | 53.3 | 34% | 12% | 8.2% |
| Laragne-Montéglin 3,549 · 9.7 mi | 54.7 | 33% | 5.2% | 8.7% |
| Gap 41,293 · 11.1 mi | 46.8 | 26% | 4% | 9.1% |
| La Bâtie-Neuve 2,628 · 16.5 mi | 43.7 | 19% | 7.6% | 3.8% |
| Sisteron 7,850 · 16.7 mi | 47.6 | 27% | 6.3% | 12% |
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 Barcillonnette
What is the population of Barcillonnette?
148 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (147).
How old are Barcillonnette’s residents?
The median age is 54.6, older than 93% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Barcillonnette?
27, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Barcillonnette?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 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 Barcillonnette?
€26,410 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.