Older than 99% of compared French towns: half of Bélaye is over 62.6
Nearly one in ten households are couples with children, against 25% in the typical compared French town. The census found that 0.5% of homes are flats in Bélaye. The town has fewer households without a car than 97% of compared French towns, at 3.5%. There were 120 households in the town at the 2023 Census, home to 214 residents.
Throughout this page, the Lot 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 Bélaye
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 70 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bélaye, 33% of its 210 homes: higher than in 95% 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 Bélaye’s residents are under 62.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 43% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 0 immigrants in Bélaye (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 18% of residents, against 9.5% for the median compared commune in Lot. 16% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Empty homes
The census found 24 homes empty (11%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 95% of compared French towns: 33% 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
Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 9.8% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 31%. Across the comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Empty homes: 11% here and 6.7% in the typical compared French town.
A −4% change since 2012: slower than 85% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Lot town −1%. The first five years brought ±0%; the six to 2023, −4%.
Bélaye: 43% of residents are 65 or over, above 99% 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
■ Bélaye 62.6. The median compared French town: 44.
2.1% of residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Lot 53.3%, France 51.8%.
Bélaye ranks above 79% of compared French towns on one-person households: 43%
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 Lot median and the France median
Living alone · share
On average, 1.8 people share a household. Typically, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Median standard of living: €23,640 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.
The median standard of living in Bélaye is €23,640 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 75% of compared French towns.
Bélaye ranks above 99% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 62%
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
Nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, against 12% in Bélaye. The share of households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Bélaye sits above 90% of compared French towns for immigrants (18%)
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 Lot has 9.5%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 90% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Census figures put foreign nationals at 16% in Bélaye.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 91% of compared French towns: 20% of residents 15 and over are single
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%; Bélaye has 47%. On average, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of graduates of higher education than 66% of compared French towns: 35%
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
More adults with no qualification than in just over half of compared French towns: 19%. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 214 to 2,582 people
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); Bélaye the oldest (62.6).
Bélaye is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Bélaye
What is the population of Bélaye?
214 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (223).
How old are Bélaye’s residents?
The median age is 62.6, older than 99% of compared French towns. 12% are under 18 and 43% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bélaye?
70, with occasional dwellings: 33% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bélaye?
INSEE counts 38 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 18% of residents, and 35 foreign nationals (16%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bélaye?
€23,640 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.