Bures sits above 95% of compared French towns for second homes (34%)
Households without a car make up 1.6%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. There were 64 households in Bures at the 2023 Census, home to 166 residents. For Bures, the census puts flats at 1.9%. Fewer one-person households than in 99% of compared French towns: 7.7%.
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 Bures
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 36 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bures, 34% of its 100 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Below 89% of compared French towns: 3.8% of homes stand empty
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
Of all households, 6.3% moved in during the last two years and 19% have stayed three decades or more. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The benchmark for empty homes in the typical compared French town: 6.7%.
Bures’s population moved −3% on 2012, less than in 83% 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
The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Orne town −5%. The change was −4% from 2012 to 2017 and +1% from 2017 to 2023.
7.2% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 96% 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
■ Bures 45.4. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Bures is 45.4, higher than in 59% of compared French towns. For comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 65 and over account for 16%.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
Bures ranks above 79% of compared French towns on couples with children: 31%
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
The average household has 2.6 people. Couples with children make up 25% in the typical compared French town. 7.7% of households are single parents, fewer than in 83% of compared French towns.
€30,570 a year is the median standard of living here
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 €30,570 a year: higher than in 87% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person make up 31% in Bures, less than in 60% 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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In Bures, 15% of households are headed by a manual worker. Set beside that, 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).
Below 77% of compared French towns: 3.6% 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.
The median compared commune in Orne has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 77% of compared French towns. For comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. About one in 33: that is how common foreign nationals are in Bures (3%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Bures, 61% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 99% 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
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, 15% of residents 15 and over are single here. The benchmark for married residents in the typical compared French town: 43%.
A smaller share of adults with no qualification than 71% of compared French towns: 15%
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 figure for graduates of higher education is 32% in Bures and 30% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (166 to 2,582 people), the 21st 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Older than Bures: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bures | 45.4 | 16% | 34% | 3.6% |
| Mortagne-au-Perche 3,898 · 7.6 mi | 50 | 32% | 5.9% | 5.1% |
| Sées 4,168 · 10.7 mi | 51.8 | 33% | 2.9% | 1.9% |
| Tourouvre au Perche 2,955 · 11.7 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 21% | 2.6% |
| Mamers 4,996 · 14.7 mi | 50.9 | 32% | 1.4% | 4.2% |
| Alençon 25,490 · 16.7 mi | 42.7 | 24% | 1.1% | 12% |
| L'Aigle 7,663 · 17.2 mi | 47.4 | 28% | 2.7% | 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 Bures
What is the population of Bures?
166 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (172).
How old are Bures’ residents?
The median age is 45.4, older than 59% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bures?
36, with occasional dwellings: 34% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bures?
INSEE counts 6 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.6% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bures?
€30,570 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.