La Bourboule: 55% of homes are second homes, above 98% of compared French towns
Just over one in ten homes stand empty (typical compared French town: 6.7%). Couples with children are rarer here than in 97% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 1,727 residents in 960 households. In La Bourboule, 20% of households have no car.
Throughout this page, the Puy-de-Dôme 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 La Bourboule
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 1,650 second homes and occasional dwellings in La Bourboule, 55% of its 2,970 homes: higher than in 98% of compared French towns. 24% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
54% of La Bourboule’s households are one person: higher than in 98% of compared French towns; 48% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
La Bourboule had 1,891 residents at the 2012 census and 1,727 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of La Bourboule’s residents are under 53.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 27% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Flats make up 68% in La Bourboule, more than in 89% 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
Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 15% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 19%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 87% of compared French towns. One household in five has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town.
La Bourboule changed by −9% from 2012 to 2023, behind 96% 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 Puy-de-Dôme town changed +4% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −5% and the next six −3%.
Older than 91% of compared French towns: half of La Bourboule is over 53.2
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ La Bourboule 53.2. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over tops 77% of compared French towns: 27%. Few places have so few residents aged 15 to 24: 7.1% here, fewer than in 97% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Puy-de-Dôme 52.2%, 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, a share 98% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 Puy-de-Dôme median and the France median
Living alone · share
Where 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town, La Bourboule has 7.9%. Households here average 1.7 people each. The usual figure: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €22,130 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 €22,130 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 88% of compared French towns.
Only 4.8% of households are headed by a manager or professional in La Bourboule
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
In La Bourboule, 36% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manager or professional make up 9.4% in the typical compared French town. The share of households headed by a manual worker stands at 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
6.8% of residents in La Bourboule 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 Puy-de-Dôme has 5.9%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 53% of compared French towns. The census found that 4.6% of residents are foreign nationals in La Bourboule.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
La Bourboule ranks below 84% of compared French towns on married residents: 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
By its share of single residents (28%), La Bourboule is above 66% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
La Bourboule ranks below 82% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 21%
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 adults with no qualification is 24% in La Bourboule and 19% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 7th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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 Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
No nearby town is as old as La Bourboule
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Bourboule | 53.2 | 27% | 55% | 6.8% |
| Aydat 2,574 · 13.2 mi | 42.1 | 17% | 22% | 1.7% |
| Saint-Genès-Champanelle 4,066 · 16 mi | 41.5 | 18% | 3.7% | 2.2% |
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 La Bourboule
What is the population of La Bourboule?
1,727 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (1,891).
How old are La Bourboule’s residents?
The median age is 53.2, older than 91% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Bourboule?
1,650, with occasional dwellings: 55% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Bourboule?
INSEE counts 120 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.8% of residents, and 80 foreign nationals (4.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Bourboule?
€22,130 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 8, 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.