Above 96% of compared French towns: 25% of households are headed by a manual worker
29% of residents are 65 or over (typical compared French town: 22%). Single-parent households are rarer here than in 87% of compared French towns. Brûlon counted 1,549 residents and 730 households at the 2023 Census. The share of empty homes stands at 8.5%.
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.
From 2012 to 2023, 72% of compared French towns grew faster than Brûlon: −1%
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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Sarthe town ±0%.
A median age of 49.2: Brûlon is older than 80% 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
■ Brûlon 49.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 10% of residents are 15 to 24 in Brûlon.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A smaller share of couples with children than 70% of compared French towns: 21%
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
By its share of one-person households (38%), Brûlon is above 64% of compared French towns. Couples with children make up 25% in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2.1 people each.
19% of homes are flats, fewer than in 71% 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
Where just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town, Brûlon has 13%. In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats. 14% of households rent social housing (HLM). At 2.7%, the share of second homes is higher than in 58% of compared French towns.
€24,140 a year: the median standard of living
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.
At €24,140 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 70% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 4.6%, a lower share than 88% 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
Compared with 32% in the typical compared French town, two in five households are headed by a retired person here. Set beside that, nearly one in ten 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).
3.1% of residents are immigrants, below 80% 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.
Foreign nationals make up 2.6%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents: 23%, a lower share than 70% 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
Here, 44% of residents 15 and over are married. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 93% of compared French towns: 17%
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
By its share of adults with no qualification (29%), Brûlon is above 89% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,549 to 2,582 people: this is the 15th 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.
Median age: 2 of the 6 towns around Brûlon are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brûlon | 49.2 | 29% | 2.7% | 3.1% |
| Noyen-sur-Sarthe 2,556 · 9.3 mi | 45.7 | 25% | 6.4% | 1.3% |
| Sablé-sur-Sarthe 12,326 · 10 mi | 43.7 | 24% | 2.7% | 14% |
| La Suze-sur-Sarthe 4,693 · 13.4 mi | 45.3 | 24% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
| Précigné 2,877 · 14.7 mi | 48.7 | 23% | 3.7% | 1.5% |
| Évron 8,252 · 14.7 mi | 50 | 29% | 2.5% | 3.9% |
| Roëzé-sur-Sarthe 2,514 · 14.8 mi | 50.6 | 24% | 4.8% | 1.7% |
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 Brûlon
What is the population of Brûlon?
1,549 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (1,558).
How old are Brûlon’s residents?
The median age is 49.2, older than 80% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Brûlon?
22, with occasional dwellings: 2.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Brûlon?
INSEE counts 49 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.1% of residents, and 41 foreign nationals (2.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Brûlon?
€24,140 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.