Below 99% of compared French towns: 0.4% of homes are flats
In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%; Beaufay has 30%. Few places have so few single-parent households: 6.8% here, fewer than in 91% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 1,522 people lived locally, in 650 households. 2.2% of households rent social housing (HLM), or about one in 45.
Throughout this page, the Sarthe 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.
Beaufay grew +9% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 65% 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
Here the change came as +6% to 2017, then +2% to 2023. Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, ±0% in Sarthe.
A lower share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 77% of compared French towns, at 9.3%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Beaufay 43.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Beaufay’s residents are under 43.6, younger than in 53% of compared French towns. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 22%. Set beside that, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
Fewer one-person households than 88% of compared French towns: 27%
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 Sarthe median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2.3 people. Compared with other places, couples with children are common here: 30%, more than in 78% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Households without a car make up 5.3% in Beaufay, less than in 86% 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
7.1% of households moved in less than two years ago; 19% have been in their home 30 years or more. As a yardstick, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. Second homes are more common here than in three quarters of compared French towns. Here nearly one in ten homes stand empty, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 6.7%.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €26,320 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 median standard of living in Beaufay is €26,320 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 54% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manager or professional than 82% of compared French towns, at 5.4%
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
33% of households are headed by a retired person. As a yardstick, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 1.7% in Beaufay, less than in 95% of compared French towns
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 Sarthe has 2.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 95% of compared French towns. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Here, 1.5% 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 smaller share of single residents than 98% of compared French towns: 18%
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
Nearly half of residents 15 and over are married; in the typical compared French town the figure is 43%. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Beaufay ranks below 74% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 23%
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 census found that nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in Beaufay. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 15th youngest of 41 French towns of 1,522 to 2,582 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Beaufay is younger than 4 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufay | 43.6 | 22% | 4.7% | 1.7% |
| Bonnétable 3,703 · 4.1 mi | 53.5 | 34% | 4.5% | 1.7% |
| Savigné-l'Évêque 4,031 · 5.6 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 1.4% | 1% |
| Montfort-le-Gesnois 2,939 · 7 mi | 46.2 | 26% | 2.2% | 1.1% |
| Saint-Mars-la-Brière 2,681 · 8.2 mi | 42 | 20% | 2.3% | 2.6% |
| Connerré 2,780 · 8.6 mi | 45.2 | 26% | 2.7% | 2.4% |
| Champagné 3,666 · 8.7 mi | 39.1 | 16% | 1.8% | 2.8% |
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 Beaufay
What is the population of Beaufay?
1,522 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (1,402).
How old are Beaufay’s residents?
The median age is 43.6, younger than 53% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Beaufay?
35, with occasional dwellings: 4.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Beaufay?
INSEE counts 26 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.7% of residents, and 23 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Beaufay?
€26,320 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.