Ligny-en-Barrois is older than 92% of compared French towns: a median age of 53.6
Households headed by a manager or professional: 2.3% here and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, households in social housing are common here: 28%, more than in 91% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 3,677 residents in 1,930 households. For Ligny-en-Barrois, the census puts households without a car at 23%.
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 Ligny-en-Barrois
Fewer residents than in 2012
Ligny-en-Barrois had 4,170 residents at the 2012 census and 3,677 in 2023, down 12%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Ligny-en-Barrois’ residents are under 53.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
51% of Ligny-en-Barrois’ households are one person: higher than in 95% of compared French towns; 39% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 360 homes empty (15%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−12% since 2012, a pace below 98% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Meuse town −8%. The first five years brought −3%; the six to 2023, −9%.
34% of residents are 65 or over, a share 92% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ligny-en-Barrois 53.6. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.5% in Ligny-en-Barrois and 11% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 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.
15% of households are couples with children, below 91% 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
One-person households make up 51%, against 35% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Each household has 1.8 people on average.
Empty homes: 15%, a higher share than 96% 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
Where 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, Ligny-en-Barrois has 44%. The share of second homes stands at 1.8%. In the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €22,850 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 Ligny-en-Barrois’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €22,850 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 83% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 21.0%.
Households headed by a retired person make up 45% in Ligny-en-Barrois, more than in 92% 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
Just over a fifth of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. Households headed by a retired person make up 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
6.2% of Ligny-en-Barrois’ residents are immigrants
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.
That is lower than in 52% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Meuse has 7.3%. Put another way, about one in 16: 6.2% of residents are immigrants. There is little gap on foreign nationals: 4.2%, about the same as 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 married residents than 85% of compared French towns: 37%
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
27% of residents 15 and over are single, against 25% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
In Ligny-en-Barrois, 15% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 97% 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
With adults with no qualification at 34%, Ligny-en-Barrois is ahead of 97% of compared French towns on that count. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 2nd oldest of 41 French towns of 3,648 to 3,706 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.
Ages run from 38 in Saint-Philbert-de-Bouaine to 55.4 in Lectoure.
Ligny-en-Barrois is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ligny-en-Barrois | 53.6 | 34% | 1.8% | 6.2% |
| Bar-le-Duc 14,607 · 9.4 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.5% | 9.4% |
| Commercy 5,350 · 13 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 1.9% | 9.4% |
| Ancerville 2,569 · 14.4 mi | 49.4 | 25% | 1.6% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Dizier 22,858 · 17 mi | 43.6 | 23% | 1.9% | 10% |
| Saint-Mihiel 3,772 · 17.2 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 3.2% | 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 Ligny-en-Barrois
What is the population of Ligny-en-Barrois?
3,677 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% fewer than in 2012 (4,170).
How old are Ligny-en-Barrois’ residents?
The median age is 53.6, older than 92% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ligny-en-Barrois?
42, with occasional dwellings: 1.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ligny-en-Barrois?
INSEE counts 230 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.2% of residents, and 150 foreign nationals (4.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ligny-en-Barrois?
€22,850 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.0% 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 9, 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.