Half of Barfleur is over 66.3, older than 99% of compared French towns
Where a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, Barfleur has 11%. On the census count, half of households are headed by a retired person. At 19%, the share of households in social housing is higher than in 75% of compared French towns. 542 residents in 290 households: that is Barfleur at the 2023 Census.
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 Barfleur
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 300 second homes and occasional dwellings in Barfleur, 48% of its 630 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 80% 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 Barfleur’s residents are under 66.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 52% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 25% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Barfleur had 641 residents at the 2012 census and 542 in 2023, down 15%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
53% of Barfleur’s households are one person: higher than in 97% of compared French towns; 33% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
48% of homes are second homes, more than in 97% of compared French towns
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
Long tenure is the mark of 15% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 8.7% (under two years). More households without a car than in 87% of compared French towns: 22%. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. By its share of flats (19%), Barfleur is below 70% of compared French towns.
Barfleur changed by −15% from 2012 to 2023, behind 99% 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
In two steps, −11% to 2017 and −5% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% in Manche.
In Barfleur, 52% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 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
■ Barfleur 66.3. The median compared French town: 44.
5.6% 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
58% women, 42% men
About 73 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.
53% of households are one person living alone, more than in 97% 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
In Barfleur, 8.2% of households are single parents, beside 10% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. On average, 1.7 people share a household.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €26,200 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 Barfleur is €26,200 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 52% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 3.5%, a lower share than 95% 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
Here, 15% of households are headed by a manual worker. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 91% of compared French towns: 2%
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: 1.7% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 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.
A lower share of single residents than 84% of compared French towns, at 21%
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
With married residents at 38%, Barfleur is behind four fifths of compared French towns on that count. Elsewhere, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Barfleur ranks above 97% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 34%
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
18% of Barfleur’s residents 15 and over who have left education hold a higher-education diploma, against 30% in the median compared French town; 34% have no diploma (19%).
The oldest of 41 French towns of 542 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Barfleur (66.3).
No nearby town is as old as Barfleur
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barfleur | 66.3 | 52% | 48% | 2% |
| Valognes 6,969 · 14.4 mi | 51 | 29% | 2.4% | 1.6% |
| Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 78,258 · 16.4 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 3.6% | 4.9% |
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 Barfleur
What is the population of Barfleur?
542 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 15% fewer than in 2012 (641).
How old are Barfleur’s residents?
The median age is 66.3, older than 99% of compared French towns. 8.1% are under 18 and 52% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Barfleur?
300, with occasional dwellings: 48% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Barfleur?
INSEE counts 11 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2% of residents, and 9 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Barfleur?
€26,200 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.