Half of Brenas is over 58.5, older than 97% of compared French towns
Where 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, Brenas has 3.5%. This Hérault town counted 58 residents and 34 households at the 2023 Census. Couples with children make up about one in seven here (14%). Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
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 Brenas
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 21 second homes and occasional dwellings in Brenas, 37% of its 57 homes: higher than in 96% 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 ↓
An older town
Half of Brenas’ residents are under 58.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 36% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 1.7% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
57% of Brenas’ households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 33% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 96% of compared French towns: 37% of homes 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
One household in nine has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. Locally, 3.5% of homes stand empty. At 12%, the share of households without a car is higher than in 56% of compared French towns. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%.
Brenas grew +12% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 74% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +13% for the median Hérault town, the change came in two steps: +2% from 2012 to 2017, then +9% to 2023.
36% of residents are 65 or over, a share 95% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Brenas 58.5. The median compared French town: 44.
6.9% of residents are 15 to 24, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
41% women, 59% men
About 71 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
A higher share of one-person households than 99% of compared French towns, at 57%
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 1.7 people on average. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town.
Brenas: 57% of households are headed by a retired person, above 99% 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
By its share of households headed by a manager or professional (14%), Brenas is above nearly three quarters of compared French towns. Households headed by a manual worker are more common here than in 53% of compared French towns. On average, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Brenas: 6.9% of residents are immigrants
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 53% of compared French towns. Foreign nationals make up about one in 19 here (5.2%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Brenas sits below 99% of compared French towns for married residents (27%)
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
Single residents: 29%, above 74% of compared French towns. Against that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification: 8.3%, a lower share than 98% 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
By its share of graduates of higher education (38%), Brenas is above 73% of compared French towns. The wider picture: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
4th highest median age among 41 French towns of 58 to 2,582
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 Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Every neighbor is younger than Brenas
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brenas | 58.5 | 36% | 37% | 6.9% |
| Bédarieux 5,804 · 5.5 mi | 52.4 | 31% | 7.4% | 8.2% |
| Lodève 7,251 · 6.4 mi | 52.3 | 31% | 5.1% | 12% |
| Clermont-l'Hérault 9,461 · 8.7 mi | 44.3 | 24% | 3.9% | 8.3% |
| Caux 2,718 · 11.3 mi | 52 | 28% | 18% | 8% |
| Canet 3,619 · 12 mi | 42.4 | 19% | 3.2% | 4% |
| Saint-André-de-Sangonis 6,427 · 12.3 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 2.2% | 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 Brenas
What is the population of Brenas?
58 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% more than in 2012 (52).
How old are Brenas’ residents?
The median age is 58.5, older than 97% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Brenas?
21, with occasional dwellings: 37% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Brenas?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.9% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (5.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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 October 30, 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.