Ballots ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 2%
Here nearly a third of households are headed by a manual worker, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 14%. Ballots had 1,278 residents in 510 households at the 2023 census. Locally, 11% of homes stand empty. Lower than in 87% of compared French towns: 28% of households are one person living alone.
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 Ballots
A town of families
35% of households are couples with children and 5.8% single parents with children; 19% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Ballots changed by +1% from 2012 to 2023, behind 67% 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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Mayenne town ±0%.
A median age of 45.4: Ballots is older than 59% 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
■ Ballots 45.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 22% in the typical compared French town, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over in Ballots.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Mayenne 52.1%, France 51.8%.
35% of households are couples with children, more than in 93% 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 Mayenne median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.4 people. 5.8% of households are single parents, fewer than in 97% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
5.7% of households have no car, below 82% 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
Turnover: 4.7% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 18% have lived in their home 30 years or more. Households without a car make up 11% in the typical compared French town. Nearly one in ten households rent social housing (HLM), fewer than in 68% of compared French towns. At the same time, in Ballots, 3.7% of homes are second homes, beside 2.1% in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €24,480 a year in standard of living
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 Ballots’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,480 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 66% of compared French towns.
Only 2.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Ballots
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
The share of households headed by a retired person tops 58% of compared French towns: 34%. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 93% of compared French towns: 1.9%
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.
1.5% of residents are foreign nationals, against 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.
47% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 81% of compared French towns don’t reach
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%. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Ballots ranks below 85% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 20%
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
The share of adults with no qualification tops nearly four fifths of compared French towns: 25%. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
21st highest median age among 41 French towns of 1,278 to 2,582
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).
Older than Ballots: 5 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballots | 45.4 | 24% | 3.7% | 1.9% |
| Craon 4,431 · 5.9 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| Cossé-le-Vivien 3,174 · 7 mi | 45.8 | 26% | 2% | 2.2% |
| Renazé 2,504 · 7.4 mi | 53.5 | 34% | 4.6% | 4.2% |
| La Guerche-de-Bretagne 4,554 · 8.9 mi | 49.5 | 31% | 1.4% | 11% |
| Argentré-du-Plessis 4,633 · 11.5 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 1.9% | 2% |
| Ombrée d'Anjou 8,813 · 12.3 mi | 46.2 | 26% | 3.1% | 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 Ballots
What is the population of Ballots?
1,278 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (1,269).
How old are Ballots’ residents?
The median age is 45.4, older than 59% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ballots?
22, with occasional dwellings: 3.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ballots?
INSEE counts 24 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.9% of residents, and 19 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ballots?
€24,480 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.