Above 99% of compared French towns: 23% of homes stand empty
The share of households headed by a manager or professional tops 96% of compared French towns: 29%. With a median age of 50.5, Breteau is older than 85% of compared French towns. This Loiret town had 90 residents in 38 households at the 2023 census. On the census count, 4.7% of homes are flats.
Throughout this page, the Loiret 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 Breteau
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 12 second homes and occasional dwellings in Breteau, 18% of its 65 homes: higher than in 93% 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 ↓
Empty homes
The census found 15 homes empty (23%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Breteau had 74 residents at the 2012 census and 90 in 2023, up 22%: faster growth than in 92% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
18% of homes in Breteau 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
Households without a car make up 8.3%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. In the last two years, 5.6% of households moved in; at the other end, 17% have stayed 30 years or more.
A growing town: +22% since 2012, faster than 92% 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
Breteau ranks below 91% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 8.2%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Breteau 50.5. The median compared French town: 44.
A fifth of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 118 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loiret 51.7%, France 51.8%.
Below 83% of compared French towns: 29% of households are one person living alone
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 Loiret median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 2.4 people on average. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. To put it in context, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children in Breteau comes in at 29%.
14% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 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
Higher than in 53% of compared French towns: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker. 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).
Immigrants make up 5.9% of Breteau’s residents
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 55% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Loiret has 9.8%. In Breteau, 4.7% 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.
A smaller share of single residents than 81% of compared French towns: 22%
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
Set against 43% in the typical compared French town, just over two in five residents 15 and over are married in Breteau. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 79% of compared French towns: 22%
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
Nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, against 21% in Breteau. In the typical compared French town, graduates of higher education come to 30%.
Of 41 French towns its size (90 to 2,582 people), the 13th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Breteau is younger than 2 of its 5 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breteau | 50.5 | 20% | 18% | 5.9% |
| Briare 4,911 · 7.7 mi | 54.1 | 34% | 9.7% | 12% |
| Châtillon-sur-Loire 3,065 · 9.4 mi | 48.6 | 27% | 11% | 2.7% |
| Gien 13,459 · 11.9 mi | 43.2 | 24% | 5.9% | 19% |
| Nogent-sur-Vernisson 2,559 · 12.9 mi | 46.9 | 26% | 4.8% | 8.9% |
| Charny Orée de Puisaye 4,900 · 17.4 mi | 56 | 35% | 23% | 3.3% |
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 Breteau
What is the population of Breteau?
90 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 22% more than in 2012 (74).
How old are Breteau’s residents?
The median age is 50.5, older than 85% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Breteau?
12, with occasional dwellings: 18% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Breteau?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.9% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (4.7%). 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 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.