A median age of 60: Brouains is older than 98% of compared French towns
0.6% of homes are flats (typical compared French town: 30%). Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Brouains was home to 140 people in 73 households. The share of households headed by a manual worker stands at 6.7%.
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 Brouains
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 68 second homes and occasional dwellings in Brouains, 44% of its 150 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 98% 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 Brouains’ residents are under 60 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 37% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Brouains had 181 residents at the 2012 census and 140 in 2023, down 23%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 0 immigrants in Brouains (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 17% of residents, against 2.4% for the median compared commune in Manche. 15% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
44% 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
Empty homes: 8.5% here and 6.7% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in 15: 6.8% of households have no car.
−23% since 2012: slower than 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was −25%; from 2017 to 2023, +3%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Manche town ±0%.
Brouains: 37% of residents are 65 or over, above 96% 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
■ Brouains 60. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 7.7% of residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. Against that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Brouains ranks below 92% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 6.7%
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
Households here average 1.9 people each. The usual figure: one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Couples with children are rarer here than in 74% of compared French towns. 33% of households are one person living alone (typical compared French town: 35%).
A typical living standard of €20,650 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €20,650 a year: lower than in 95% of compared French towns.
In Brouains, 67% of households are headed by a retired person, more 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
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 6.7%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 17%, a higher share than 89% 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.
With foreign nationals at 15%, Brouains is ahead of 92% of compared French towns on that count. The median compared commune in Manche has 2.4%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 89% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 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.
Fewer single residents than 93% of compared French towns: 20%
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
46% of residents 15 and over are married; in the typical compared French town the figure is 43%. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Above 89% of compared French towns: 29% of adults out of school have no qualification
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
With graduates of higher education at 23%, Brouains is behind just over three quarters of compared French towns on that count. Set beside that, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 4th oldest of 41 French towns of 140 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 Prayssac (62.3).
No nearby town is as old as Brouains
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brouains | 60 | 37% | 44% | 17% |
| Sourdeval 3,026 · 2.4 mi | 59 | 39% | 8.9% | 5.3% |
| Mortain-Bocage 2,961 · 7.1 mi | 56.7 | 36% | 11% | 7.7% |
| Noues de Sienne 4,207 · 8.2 mi | 51.8 | 28% | 12% | 4.9% |
| Vire Normandie 17,457 · 8.7 mi | 50.1 | 28% | 2.9% | 3.6% |
| Grandparigny 2,605 · 10.1 mi | 54.9 | 32% | 5.1% | 2.5% |
| Tinchebray-Bocage 4,813 · 11.3 mi | 49.6 | 29% | 8.3% | 3.6% |
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 Brouains
What is the population of Brouains?
140 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 23% fewer than in 2012 (181).
How old are Brouains’ residents?
The median age is 60, older than 98% of compared French towns. 7.7% are under 18 and 37% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Brouains?
68, with occasional dwellings: 44% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Brouains?
INSEE counts 24 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 17% of residents, and 21 foreign nationals (15%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Brouains?
€20,650 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.