44% of households are couples with children, more than in 99% of compared French towns
The figure for empty homes is 2.8% in Bernes-sur-Oise and 6.7% in the typical compared French town. Still, residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 90% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 2,684 residents and 900 households here. Households headed by a manager or professional make up about one in 16 here (6.1%).
Throughout this page, the Val-d'Oise 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-sur-Oise
A town of families
44% of households are couples with children and 10% single parents with children; 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A young town
Half of Bernes-sur-Oise’s residents are under 37.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 22% are under 15 and 14% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 400 immigrants in Bernes-sur-Oise (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 15% of residents, against 16% for the median compared commune in Val-d'Oise. 9.8% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A +12% change since 2012: faster than 75% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +8% for the median Val-d'Oise town, the change came in two steps: +13% from 2012 to 2017, then −1% to 2023.
A median age of 37.8: Bernes-sur-Oise is younger than 89% 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
■ Bernes-sur-Oise 37.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Bernes-sur-Oise has 14%.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Val-d'Oise 51.5%, France 51.8%.
Bernes-sur-Oise ranks below 98% of compared French towns on one-person households: 23%
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 Val-d'Oise median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2.8 people in the average household. One in ten households are single parents, fewer than in 50% of compared French towns. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town.
Above 82% of compared French towns: 22% of households rent social housing (HLM)
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
Against a figure of 2.1% in the typical compared French town, the share of second homes in Bernes-sur-Oise comes in at 0.4%. As a yardstick, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. The census found that 16% of homes are flats here. Few places have so few households without a car: 8.2% here, fewer than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns.
€26,160 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.
The median standard of living in Bernes-sur-Oise is €26,160 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 52% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 12.0% of residents.
In Bernes-sur-Oise, 29% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 70% 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
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (16%), Bernes-sur-Oise is above 63% of compared French towns. The wider picture: nearly a third 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).
Immigrants make up 15% in Bernes-sur-Oise, more than in 86% 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.
Here 9.8% of residents are foreign nationals, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents make up 33% in Bernes-sur-Oise, more than in 88% 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
Married residents make up 44%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Above 74% of compared French towns: 24% of adults out of school have no qualification
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
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 27% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification here. By way of comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (2,648 to 2,718 people), the 3rd youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Roissy-en-France is the youngest (34); Piriac-sur-Mer the oldest (63.6).
Bernes-sur-Oise and its 6 nearest towns: 3 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernes-sur-Oise | 37.8 | 14% | 0.4% | 15% |
| Persan 14,359 · 1.1 mi | 32.9 | 10% | 0.3% | 27% |
| Beaumont-sur-Oise 10,232 · 1.3 mi | 36.4 | 14% | 1.4% | 19% |
| Bruyères-sur-Oise 4,921 · 1.7 mi | 35.2 | 9.7% | 0.6% | 13% |
| Chambly 9,959 · 2.2 mi | 40.1 | 17% | 0.9% | 8.6% |
| Champagne-sur-Oise 5,036 · 3 mi | 39.3 | 15% | 1% | 9.2% |
| Presles 4,017 · 3.3 mi | 44.3 | 19% | 1.1% | 8.2% |
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 Bernes-sur-Oise
What is the population of Bernes-sur-Oise?
2,684 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% more than in 2012 (2,399).
How old are Bernes-sur-Oise’s residents?
The median age is 37.8, younger than 89% of compared French towns. 27% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bernes-sur-Oise?
4, with occasional dwellings: 0.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bernes-sur-Oise?
INSEE counts 410 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 15% of residents, and 260 foreign nationals (9.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bernes-sur-Oise?
€26,160 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 12.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.