Below 99% of compared French towns: 2% of households have no car
Here 19% of households are headed by a manager or professional, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 9.4%. Flats are rarer here than in 87% of compared French towns. 570 residents in 240 households: that is Barst at the 2023 Census. One-person households come to 20% locally, about two in ten.
Throughout this page, the Moselle 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 Barst
A town of families
36% of households are couples with children and 6.3% single parents with children; 17% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A +1% change since 2012: slower than 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was +2%; from 2017 to 2023, −2%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Moselle town −1%.
8.5% of residents are 15 to 24, below 88% 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
■ Barst 46.8. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 46.8, Barst is older than just over two thirds of compared French towns. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. The census found that 23% of residents are 65 or over in the town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Barst sits above 94% of compared French towns for couples with children (36%)
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 Moselle median and the France median
Living alone · share
In the typical compared French town, one in ten households are single parents; in Barst, 6.3%. The wider picture: a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. On average, 2.4 people share a household.
Barst ranks below 77% of compared French towns on second homes: 1.1%
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. 4.2% of households arrived within the last two years, while 37% have stayed 30 years or more. Little separates the share of empty homes here, 7.4%, from the figure in the typical compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €29,420 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €29,420 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 81% of compared French towns.
29% of households are headed by a retired person, below 70% 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 manual worker: 17%, above 67% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 2.6% of residents are immigrants in Barst
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 85% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Moselle has 12%. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%. Locally, 1.4% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A larger share of married residents than 99% of compared French towns: 58%
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
18% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 14% in Barst, less than in 76% 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
30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, or about one in three. In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
17th highest median age among 41 French towns of 570 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
3 of 6 neighbors are older than Barst
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barst | 46.8 | 23% | 1.1% | 2.6% |
| Farébersviller 5,224 · 3.4 mi | 39.8 | 19% | 0.7% | 28% |
| Macheren 2,814 · 3.5 mi | 49.3 | 24% | 0.7% | 8.7% |
| Hombourg-Haut 5,976 · 3.8 mi | 47.1 | 27% | 1% | 15% |
| Freyming-Merlebach 13,266 · 4.5 mi | 43.4 | 24% | 0.6% | 17% |
| Cocheren 3,358 · 4.6 mi | 48 | 27% | 0.7% | 8.1% |
| Saint-Avold 14,755 · 5 mi | 46.8 | 24% | 1.1% | 11% |
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 Barst
What is the population of Barst?
570 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (566).
How old are Barst’s residents?
The median age is 46.8, older than 68% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Barst?
3, with occasional dwellings: 1.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Barst?
INSEE counts 15 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.6% of residents, and 8 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Barst?
€29,420 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.