A median age of 53.4: Bais is older than 91% of compared French towns
9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, against 3% in Bais. Few places have so few flats: 6.9% here, fewer than in 92% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Bais was home to 1,222 people in 510 households. Couples with children make up about one in five here (20%).
Throughout this page, the Mayenne 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 Bais
An older town
Half of Bais’ residents are under 53.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 110 homes empty (17%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 84% of compared French towns: Bais changed by −4% since 2012
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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −3%, then −1% to 2023. Over those years, the median Mayenne town changed ±0% and the median compared French town +5%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 30% in Bais, more than in 86% 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
■ Bais 53.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 8.8% 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
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Mayenne 52.1%, France 51.8%.
Below 81% of compared French towns: 7.9% of households are single parents
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 Mayenne median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.1 people on average. Across the comparison, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. 36% of households are one person living alone, a higher share than in 53% of compared French towns.
Above 97% of compared French towns: 17% of homes stand empty
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
One in ten households rent social housing (HLM) (typical compared French town: 12%). The benchmark for empty homes in the typical compared French town: 6.7%. Locally, 8.8% of homes are second homes. Households without a car are more common here than in 52% of compared French towns.
Median living standard: €23,270 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 Bais’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €23,270 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 79% of compared French towns.
25% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 96% 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
Nearly two in five households are headed by a retired person, against 32% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Bais ranks below 78% of compared French towns on immigrants: 3.4%
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.
In Bais, 3.2% of residents are foreign nationals, beside 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 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.
More married residents than 59% of compared French towns: 44%
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
Census figures put single residents at 26% in Bais. By way of comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Bais sits below 99% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (11%)
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
Adults with no qualification: 39%, above 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
41 French towns of 1,222 to 2,582 people: this is the 7th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Bais sits below 1 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bais | 53.4 | 30% | 8.8% | 3.4% |
| Villaines-la-Juhel 2,671 · 7.3 mi | 57.5 | 38% | 3.9% | 3.3% |
| Évron 8,252 · 7.5 mi | 50 | 29% | 2.5% | 3.9% |
| Montsûrs 3,192 · 11.7 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 5% | 2% |
| Mayenne 12,883 · 12.3 mi | 47 | 28% | 1.8% | 5.3% |
| Ambrières-les-Vallées 2,619 · 16.1 mi | 49.6 | 30% | 7.5% | 3.1% |
| Argentré 2,906 · 17.4 mi | 42.3 | 18% | 0.9% | 1.7% |
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 Bais
What is the population of Bais?
1,222 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (1,271).
How old are Bais’ residents?
The median age is 53.4, older than 91% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bais?
60, with occasional dwellings: 8.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bais?
INSEE counts 42 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.4% of residents, and 39 foreign nationals (3.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bais?
€23,270 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.