Couples with children make up 13% in Bar-le-Duc, less than in 95% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM); in Bar-le-Duc, 27%. The 2023 Census counted 14,607 residents in 7,790 households. Flats account for 61%. On households without a car, Bar-le-Duc sits higher than 91% of compared French towns: 25%.
Throughout this page, the Meuse 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 Bar-le-Duc
Many people living alone
54% of Bar-le-Duc’s households are one person: higher than in 97% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Bar-le-Duc had 15,759 residents at the 2012 census and 14,607 in 2023, down 7%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 1,220 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Bar-le-Duc has changed by −7%, slower than 94% 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, −5% to 2017 and −3% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −8% in Meuse.
Half of Bar-le-Duc is over 48.1, older than 75% 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
■ Bar-le-Duc 48.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 22% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Bar-le-Duc comes in at 26%. In Bar-le-Duc, 13% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Meuse 52.5%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
54% 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 Meuse median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 1.8 people each. In the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households is 35%. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 58% of compared French towns.
A higher share of empty homes than 92% of compared French towns, at 13%
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
Some 15% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 17% who have been there 30 years or more. Across Bar-le-Duc, 2.5% of homes are second homes. In the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%.
Standard of living at the median: €23,480 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 €23,480 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 77% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 22.0%.
Bar-le-Duc: 35% of households are headed by a retired person, above 66% 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 account for 8.4%. Lower than in 50% of compared French towns: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals: 7.6%, a higher share than 73% 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.
Nearly one in ten residents are immigrants, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share higher than in just over two thirds of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Meuse has 7.3%. For foreign nationals, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
32% of residents 15 and over are married, below 96% 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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Bar-le-Duc comes in at 34%. Measured more widely, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification: 24%, a higher share than 74% 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
28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). Typically, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (14,207 to 15,023 people), the 10th 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.
The youngest is Persan (32.9), the oldest Saint-Jean-de-Luz (54.3).
Median age: 2 of the 3 towns around Bar-le-Duc are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bar-le-Duc | 48.1 | 26% | 2.5% | 9.4% |
| Ligny-en-Barrois 3,677 · 9.4 mi | 53.6 | 34% | 1.8% | 6.2% |
| Ancerville 2,569 · 11.8 mi | 49.4 | 25% | 1.6% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Dizier 22,858 · 13.2 mi | 43.6 | 23% | 1.9% | 10% |
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 Bar-le-Duc
What is the population of Bar-le-Duc?
14,607 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% fewer than in 2012 (15,759).
How old are Bar-le-Duc’s residents?
The median age is 48.1, older than 75% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bar-le-Duc?
230, with occasional dwellings: 2.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bar-le-Duc?
INSEE counts 1,370 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.4% of residents, and 1,110 foreign nationals (7.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bar-le-Duc?
€23,480 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 22.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.