A higher share of empty homes than 96% of compared French towns, at 16%
3.3% of households rent social housing (HLM); in the typical compared French town the figure is 12%. The 2023 Census counted 1,540 residents in 650 households. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 7.7%. At 5.4%, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is lower than in just over four fifths 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 Bussières
Empty homes
The census found 130 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.
Slower growth than 79% of compared French towns: Bussières changed by −2% since 2012
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
The median Loire town changed +3% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −2% and the next six ±0%.
Bussières is older than 73% of compared French towns: a median age of 47.7
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bussières 47.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 22% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Bussières comes in at 27%.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
7.8% of households are single parents, fewer than in 83% 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
The average household has 2.2 people. Few places have so few couples with children: 24% here, fewer than in 57% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Set against 35% in the typical compared French town, just over a third of households are one person living alone in Bussières.
Fewer flats than 87% of compared French towns: 9.6%
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
Of all households, 7.1% moved in during the last two years and 21% have stayed three decades or more. Measured more widely, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Few places have as many second homes: 7% here, more than in 83% of compared French towns. 6.7% of households have no car, against 11% in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €24,370 a year in standard of living
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.
The median standard of living in Bussières is €24,370 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 67% of compared French towns.
Bussières ranks above 74% of compared French towns on households headed by a manual worker: 18%
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
Compared with 32% in the typical compared French town, 36% of households are headed by a retired person here. 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 99% of compared French towns, at 1.1%
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 Loire has 5.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns. Foreign nationals account for 1%. The wider picture: 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.
Only 23% of residents 15 and over are single in Bussières
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
For Bussières, the census puts married residents at 44%. Against that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 28% in Bussières, more than in 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
The share of graduates of higher education trails just over four fifths of compared French towns: 22%. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,540 to 2,582 people: this is the 15th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Older than Bussières: 3 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bussières | 47.7 | 27% | 7% | 1.1% |
| Balbigny 2,911 · 3.9 mi | 46.4 | 26% | 3.1% | 5.6% |
| Panissières 2,911 · 4.5 mi | 49.4 | 29% | 7.2% | 3% |
| Feurs 8,367 · 6.8 mi | 50.7 | 32% | 2% | 6.7% |
| Tarare 10,893 · 9.1 mi | 43.3 | 23% | 1.1% | 14% |
| Amplepuis 4,876 · 10 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 3.1% | 7.8% |
| Vindry-sur-Turdine 5,305 · 11.3 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 2.2% | 3.5% |
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 Bussières
What is the population of Bussières?
1,540 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (1,577).
How old are Bussières’ residents?
The median age is 47.7, older than 73% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bussières?
58, with occasional dwellings: 7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bussières?
INSEE counts 17 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.1% of residents, and 16 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bussières?
€24,370 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.