Photo: Eiku · CC BY-SA 3.0Above 96% of compared French towns: 16% of homes stand empty
With one-person households at 47%, Béziers is ahead of 88% of compared French towns on that count. This Hérault town is home to 81,545 residents in 39,100 households, by the 2023 Census. The share of flats stands at 64%. On households without a car, Béziers sits higher than 92% of compared French towns: 25%.
Throughout this page, the Hérault 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 Béziers
Immigrants
INSEE counts 13,800 immigrants in Béziers (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 17% of residents, against 6.8% for the median compared commune in Hérault. 15% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Empty homes
The census found 7,610 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Béziers grew +12% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 75% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +6%, then +6% to 2023. Over those years, the median Hérault town changed +13% and the median compared French town +5%.
Half of Béziers is under 42.7, younger 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
■ Béziers 42.7. The median compared French town: 44.
23% of residents are 65 or over; in the typical compared French town the figure is 22%. Here, 12% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
A lower share of couples with children than 80% of compared French towns, at 18%
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 Hérault median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2 people on average. Béziers has more single-parent households than 84% of compared French towns, at 13%. Set beside that, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
Béziers: 4.3% of homes are second homes, above 73% 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
Against a figure of 12% in the typical compared French town, the share of households in social housing in Béziers comes in at 16%. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%.
A median of €18,390 a year per consumption unit
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 €18,390 a year: lower than in 99% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 38.8%.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 6.4%, a lower share than 73% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person is 32%; Béziers has 34%. Across Béziers, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker. Households headed by a manager or professional: 9.4% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
17% of residents are immigrants, more than in 89% 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 Hérault has 6.8%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 89% of compared French towns. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%. Locally, 15% 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.
Single residents make up 32% in Béziers, more than in 87% 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
Married residents: 36%, below 86% of compared French towns. For comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
In Béziers, 27% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 85% 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 graduates of higher education is 30%; Béziers has 24%. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
41 French towns of 67,339 to 98,286 people: this is the 11th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Poitiers (30), the youngest, and Cannes (50.3), the oldest.
No nearby town is as young as Béziers
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Béziers | 42.7 | 23% | 4.3% | 17% |
| Boujan-sur-Libron 3,619 · 2 mi | 49.6 | 31% | 3.5% | 3.7% |
| Villeneuve-lès-Béziers 4,500 · 3.2 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 8.1% | 7.3% |
| Lignan-sur-Orb 3,227 · 3.8 mi | 50.8 | 30% | 1.8% | 4.9% |
| Maraussan 4,789 · 3.9 mi | 44.4 | 23% | 2.8% | 5% |
| Sauvian 5,608 · 4.1 mi | 50.4 | 30% | 6% | 5.8% |
| Cers 2,503 · 4.3 mi | 47.5 | 28% | 2.8% | 6% |
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 Béziers
What is the population of Béziers?
81,545 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% more than in 2012 (72,970).
How old are Béziers’ residents?
The median age is 42.7, younger than 60% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Béziers?
2,100, with occasional dwellings: 4.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Béziers?
INSEE counts 13,810 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 17% of residents, and 12,070 foreign nationals (15%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Béziers?
€18,390 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 38.8% 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 4, 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.