Photo: Johan Allard · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer households in social housing than 99% of compared French towns: 0.2%
The median age in Besse-sur-Issole is 48.6, higher than in 78% of compared French towns. This Var town is home to 3,125 residents in 1,390 households, by the 2023 Census. Single-parent households make up about one in 19 here (5.4%). The share of flats trails 80% of compared French towns: 14%.
Throughout this page, the Var 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 Besse-sur-Issole
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 190 second homes and occasional dwellings in Besse-sur-Issole, 11% of its 1,730 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 95% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
11% of homes in Besse-sur-Issole are second homes
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
Empty homes: 9% here and 6.7% in the typical compared French town. In Besse-sur-Issole, 5.5% of households have no car. The comparison figure for second homes is 2.1% in the typical compared French town.
+3% since 2012, a pace below 56% 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 change was ±0% from 2012 to 2017 and +3% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Var town +10%.
Besse-sur-Issole sits above 63% of compared French towns for residents aged 65 and over (24%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Besse-sur-Issole 48.6. The median compared French town: 44.
11% of residents are 15 to 24, or about one in nine. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Var 51.4%, France 51.8%.
Below 61% of compared French towns: 33% of households are one person living alone
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 Var median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 2.2 people each. The wider picture: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, just over a quarter of households are couples with children here.
€26,580 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €26,580 a year: higher than in 56% of compared French towns. The poverty rate is 16.0%.
Besse-sur-Issole: 12% of households are headed by a manager or professional, above 62% 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
The figure for households headed by a retired person is 34% in Besse-sur-Issole and 32% in the typical compared French town. On average, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in eight: 13% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Besse-sur-Issole sits below 69% of compared French towns for immigrants (4.4%)
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.
Where 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Besse-sur-Issole has 2.6%. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% 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.
More married residents than 77% of compared French towns: 47%
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
24% of residents 15 and over are single (typical compared French town: 25%). The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 75% of compared French towns, at 15%
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
Across Besse-sur-Issole, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
The 17th oldest of 41 French towns of 3,101 to 3,149 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 35.8 in Vémars to 64.6 in La Tranche-sur-Mer.
No nearby town is as old as Besse-sur-Issole
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Besse-sur-Issole | 48.6 | 24% | 11% | 4.4% |
| Flassans-sur-Issole 3,706 · 2.8 mi | 45 | 23% | 9.6% | 5.4% |
| Carnoules 4,388 · 3.3 mi | 40.9 | 18% | 4% | 5.9% |
| Pignans 4,838 · 4.2 mi | 43.4 | 22% | 7.7% | 4.6% |
| Forcalqueiret 3,389 · 4.6 mi | 41.7 | 20% | 8.9% | 3.1% |
| Puget-Ville 4,610 · 4.6 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 5.7% | 3.9% |
| Rocbaron 5,660 · 5.5 mi | 42.2 | 19% | 5.8% | 3% |
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 Besse-sur-Issole
What is the population of Besse-sur-Issole?
3,125 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (3,025).
How old are Besse-sur-Issole’s residents?
The median age is 48.6, older than 78% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Besse-sur-Issole?
190, with occasional dwellings: 11% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Besse-sur-Issole?
INSEE counts 140 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.4% of residents, and 81 foreign nationals (2.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Besse-sur-Issole?
€26,580 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.0% 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 9, 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.