2% of households have no car, below 99% of compared French towns
The figure for one-person households is 26% in Bessey and 35% in the typical compared French town. This Loire town had 465 residents in 190 households at the 2023 Census. Across Bessey, 15% of residents are 65 or over. Households headed by a manual worker are more common here than in 78% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the 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 Bessey
One home in 10 is a second home
The census counted 24 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bessey, 10% of its 230 homes: higher than in 88% of compared French towns. 92% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
A town of families
36% of households are couples with children and 2.5% single parents with children; 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A lower share of flats than 99% of compared French towns, at 2%
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
The figure for second homes is 10% in Bessey and 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Flats make up 30% in the typical compared French town. Empty homes account for 7.3%.
Bessey’s population changed by +13% since 2012, more than in 78% 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 population moved +11%, and from 2017 to 2023 +2%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Loire town +3%.
Bessey is younger than 70% of compared French towns: a median age of 41.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bessey 41.4. The median compared French town: 44.
At 11%, residents aged 15 to 24 sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
36% of households are couples with children, more than in 94% of compared French towns
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 Loire median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households: 2.5%, below 99% of compared French towns. Couples with children: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A typical living standard of €29,620 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.
Half of residents live in households above €29,620 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 82% of compared French towns.
Only 29% of households are headed by a retired person in Bessey
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
Here 11% of households are headed by a manager or professional, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 9.4%. As a reference point, 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).
Only 1.9% of residents are immigrants in Bessey
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.
Foreign nationals: 0.6% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. That is lower than in 93% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Loire has 5.8%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
48% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 83% 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
About one in four: that is how common single residents are in Bessey (25%). The wider picture: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification: 12%, a lower share than 87% 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
30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, against 38% in Bessey. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 6th youngest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Bessey and its 6 nearest towns: 5 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessey | 41.4 | 15% | 10% | 1.9% |
| Pélussin 3,727 · 2.4 mi | 47.1 | 26% | 7.4% | 3.5% |
| Chavanay 2,884 · 2.7 mi | 44.4 | 20% | 3.5% | 4.5% |
| Saint-Maurice-l'Exil 6,889 · 4.2 mi | 38.9 | 17% | 1.2% | 13% |
| Le Péage-de-Roussillon 6,718 · 5 mi | 41.8 | 24% | 0.9% | 25% |
| Saint-Clair-du-Rhône 3,778 · 5.3 mi | 45.7 | 22% | 1.3% | 6.9% |
| Roussillon 8,595 · 5.8 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 2% | 15% |
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 Bessey
What is the population of Bessey?
465 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% more than in 2012 (410).
How old are Bessey’s residents?
The median age is 41.4, younger than 70% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bessey?
24, with occasional dwellings: 10% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bessey?
INSEE counts 9 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.9% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (0.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bessey?
€29,620 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.