Older than 97% of compared French towns: half of Bélâbre is over 57.5
Flats: 3.8% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households account for 6.1%. Fewer households in social housing than in 94% of compared French towns: 2.8%. There were 480 households in Bélâbre at the 2023 Census, home to 923 residents.
Throughout this page, the Indre 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 Bélâbre
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 150 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bélâbre, 20% of its 730 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 99% 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 Bélâbre’s residents are under 57.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 38% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Bélâbre had 1,038 residents at the 2012 census and 923 in 2023, down 11%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 100 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More second homes than 93% of compared French towns: 20%
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 in ten households moved in less than two years ago; 24% have been in their home 30 years or more. Typically, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Empty homes are more common here than in 94% of compared French towns. Where 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town, Bélâbre has 12%.
A change of −11% since 2012 leaves Bélâbre behind 98% 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 the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Indre town −5%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 38%, a higher share than 97% 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
■ Bélâbre 57.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Bélâbre has 6.4%. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Indre 53.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Bélâbre ranks below 86% of compared French towns on couples with children: 17%
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 Indre median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 1.9 people in the average household. One-person households are more common here than in three fifths of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €23,220 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.
Living standards centre on €23,220 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 80% of compared French towns.
Below 99% of compared French towns: 2.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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 32% in the typical compared French town, 52% of households are headed by a retired person in Bélâbre. On top of that, 15% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 59% of compared French towns. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 3.9% in Bélâbre, less than in 74% 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 Indre has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 74% of compared French towns. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%. Census figures put foreign nationals at 3.1% in Bélâbre.
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 17% in Bélâbre, less than in 99% 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
With married residents at 51%, Bélâbre is ahead of 93% of compared French towns on that count. Typically, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Bélâbre sits below 99% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Bélâbre comes in at 28%. In the typical compared French town, graduates of higher education come to 30%.
5th highest median age among 41 French towns of 923 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as old as Bélâbre
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bélâbre | 57.5 | 38% | 20% | 3.9% |
| Le Blanc 6,164 · 7 mi | 52.8 | 34% | 9.2% | 4.4% |
| Montmorillon 5,821 · 16.2 mi | 57.4 | 38% | 3.8% | 5.3% |
| Argenton-sur-Creuse 4,786 · 17.2 mi | 52.1 | 30% | 8.7% | 5.1% |
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 Bélâbre
What is the population of Bélâbre?
923 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% fewer than in 2012 (1,038).
How old are Bélâbre’s residents?
The median age is 57.5, older than 97% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 38% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bélâbre?
150, with occasional dwellings: 20% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bélâbre?
INSEE counts 36 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.9% of residents, and 29 foreign nationals (3.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bélâbre?
€23,220 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 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.