Half of Barenton is over 56.5, older than 96% of compared French towns
Single-parent households: 5.6%, below 98% of compared French towns. There were 540 households in Barenton at the 2023 Census, home to 1,161 residents. About one in 27: that is how common households headed by a manager or professional are in Barenton (3.7%). Lower than in 86% of compared French towns: 10% of homes are flats.
Throughout this page, the Manche 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 Barenton
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 100 second homes and occasional dwellings in Barenton, 13% of its 780 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 95% 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 Barenton’s residents are under 56.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 36% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 14% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 140 homes empty (18%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Barenton had 1,214 residents at the 2012 census and 1,161 in 2023, down 4%: slower growth than in 86% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More empty homes than 98% of compared French towns: 18%
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
Car-free households: one in eight, where the median compared French town has 11%. Across Barenton, 13% of homes are second homes. Households without a car are more common here than in just over three fifths of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
Barenton’s population moved −4% on 2012, less than in 86% 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 −3%, and from 2017 to 2023 −1%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Manche town ±0%.
36% of residents are 65 or over, a share 95% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Barenton 56.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 7.4% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. 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 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Barenton: 44% of households are one person living alone, above 81% 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 Manche median and the France median
Living alone · share
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 19% of households are couples with children in Barenton. The usual figure: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households average 2 people.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €23,260 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 €23,260 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 79% of compared French towns.
More households headed by a retired person than 87% of compared French towns: 42%
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
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Barenton has 17%. Against that, 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).
8.4% of residents are foreign nationals, more than in 76% 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.
Set against 6.5% in the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten residents are immigrants in Barenton. The usual figure: 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. That is higher than in 66% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Manche has 2.4%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 41% in Barenton, less than in 63% 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
Here nearly a quarter of residents 15 and over are single, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
In Barenton, 36% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 99% 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
Against a figure of 30% in the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education in Barenton comes in at 18%. The comparison figure for adults with no qualification is 19% in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 1,161 to 2,582 people, the 5th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 4 are older than Barenton
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barenton | 56.5 | 36% | 13% | 9.1% |
| Mortain-Bocage 2,961 · 5 mi | 56.7 | 36% | 11% | 7.7% |
| Domfront en Poiraie 4,113 · 8.6 mi | 57.7 | 36% | 6% | 4.6% |
| Sourdeval 3,026 · 9.3 mi | 59 | 39% | 8.9% | 5.3% |
| Grandparigny 2,605 · 11.2 mi | 54.9 | 32% | 5.1% | 2.5% |
| Tinchebray-Bocage 4,813 · 11.4 mi | 49.6 | 29% | 8.3% | 3.6% |
| Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët 5,770 · 13 mi | 56.7 | 37% | 6.1% | 2.7% |
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 Barenton
What is the population of Barenton?
1,161 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (1,214).
How old are Barenton’s residents?
The median age is 56.5, older than 96% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Barenton?
100, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Barenton?
INSEE counts 110 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.1% of residents, and 98 foreign nationals (8.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Barenton?
€23,260 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 October 30, 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.