A larger share of couples with children than 99% of compared French towns: 44%
The figure for households headed by a manual worker is 29% in Bernes and 14% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census, 353 people lived in the town, in 140 households. Here, 4.8% of households have no car. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 87% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Somme 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 Bernes
A town of families
44% of households are couples with children and 0% single parents with children; 23% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A young town
Half of Bernes’ residents are under 36.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 23% are under 15 and 14% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Growth of +7% since 2012 puts Bernes ahead of 59% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Somme town −3%.
Younger than 92% of compared French towns: half of Bernes is under 36.9
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bernes 36.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Where just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Bernes has 14%.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Somme 52.5%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 21%, a lower share than 99% of compared French towns
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 Somme median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.5 people on average. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%.
A higher share of second homes than 67% of compared French towns, at 3.5%
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. In Bernes, 7.8% of homes stand empty. Some 5.1% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 22% who have been there 30 years or more.
A typical living standard of €25,160 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 €25,160 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 58% of compared French towns.
Bernes ranks below 95% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 3.5%
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
Set against 32% in the typical compared French town, 35% of households are headed by a retired person in Bernes. Across the comparison, 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).
In Bernes, 1.1% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 99% 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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 0.6% of residents are foreign nationals in Bernes. Measured more widely, 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.
Bernes ranks below 98% of compared French towns on single residents: 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 (typical compared French town: 43%). The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
In Bernes, 25% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 68% 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
Adults with no qualification make up 21%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 353 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.
Ages run from 36.9 in Bernes to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as young as Bernes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernes | 36.9 | 14% | 3.5% | 1.1% |
| Péronne 7,090 · 7.6 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 1.4% | 4.3% |
| Saint-Quentin 52,813 · 9.4 mi | 41.3 | 23% | 1.6% | 9% |
| Gauchy 5,183 · 9.9 mi | 47.7 | 24% | 0.4% | 4% |
| Ham 4,378 · 11.1 mi | 45.8 | 25% | 1% | 2.8% |
| Fresnoy-le-Grand 2,890 · 14.5 mi | 44.1 | 23% | 1.2% | 2.7% |
| Masnières 2,689 · 15 mi | 40 | 19% | 0.7% | 2.1% |
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 Bernes
What is the population of Bernes?
353 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (330).
How old are Bernes’ residents?
The median age is 36.9, younger than 92% of compared French towns. 26% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bernes?
6, with occasional dwellings: 3.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bernes?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.1% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (0.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bernes?
€25,160 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.