A median age of 54.9: Belforêt-en-Perche is older than 94% of compared French towns
In Belforêt-en-Perche, 6.2% of households rent social housing (HLM), beside 12% in the typical compared French town. The town had 1,474 residents in 730 households at the 2023 Census. Locally, 50% of households are headed by a retired person. Compared with other places, couples with children are scarce here: 19%, fewer than in 80% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Orne 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 Belforêt-en-Perche
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 260 second homes and occasional dwellings in Belforêt-en-Perche, 24% of its 1,080 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Belforêt-en-Perche had 1,689 residents at the 2012 census and 1,474 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Belforêt-en-Perche’s residents are under 54.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Belforêt-en-Perche ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 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
Car-free households: one in 10, where the median compared French town has 11%. The usual figure: 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. The share of second homes stands at 24%. 8.5% of homes stand empty, a higher share than in 68% of compared French towns.
Slower growth than 99% of compared French towns: Belforêt-en-Perche changed by −13% 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
The first five years brought −1%; the six to 2023, −12%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Orne town −5%.
Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 95% of compared French towns: 7.6%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Belforêt-en-Perche 54.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 33%, against 22% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
Belforêt-en-Perche ranks below 67% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 9%
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 Orne median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2 people in the average household. Against that, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. One-person households: 34% here and 35% in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €24,510 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €24,510 a year: lower than in 66% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 6.1%, a lower share than 75% 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
12% of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a manager or professional come to 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 82% of compared French towns: 3% of 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.
2.3% of residents are foreign nationals (typical compared French town: 4.3%). Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 19% of residents 15 and over are single in Belforêt-en-Perche
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
The share of married residents tops 92% of compared French towns: 50%. The wider picture: 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification: 30%, a higher share than 91% 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
The share of graduates of higher education is 21%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town: 19%.
Among 41 French towns of 1,474 to 2,582 people, the 6th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Belforêt-en-Perche
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belforêt-en-Perche | 54.9 | 33% | 24% | 3% |
| Mamers 4,996 · 7.2 mi | 50.9 | 32% | 1.4% | 4.2% |
| Mortagne-au-Perche 3,898 · 9.7 mi | 50 | 32% | 5.9% | 5.1% |
| Val-au-Perche 3,336 · 11 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 11% | 3.5% |
| Nogent-le-Rotrou 9,292 · 14.3 mi | 51.3 | 32% | 4.6% | 8.4% |
| Bonnétable 3,703 · 14.5 mi | 53.5 | 34% | 4.5% | 1.7% |
| La Ferté-Bernard 8,740 · 14.6 mi | 50.4 | 31% | 3% | 6.8% |
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 Belforêt-en-Perche
What is the population of Belforêt-en-Perche?
1,474 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (1,689).
How old are Belforêt-en-Perche’s residents?
The median age is 54.9, older than 94% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Belforêt-en-Perche?
260, with occasional dwellings: 24% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Belforêt-en-Perche?
INSEE counts 44 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3% of residents, and 34 foreign nationals (2.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Belforêt-en-Perche?
€24,510 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 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.