A median age of 62.4: Barbâtre is older than 99% of compared French towns
Against a figure of 6.7% in the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes in Barbâtre comes in at 0.3%. On households headed by a manager or professional, Barbâtre sits lower than 97% of compared French towns: 3.1%. At the 2023 Census, 1,824 people lived in the town, in 980 households. 1.9% of homes are flats.
Throughout this page, the Vendée 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 Barbâtre
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 2,390 second homes and occasional dwellings in Barbâtre, 71% of its 3,380 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 99% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Barbâtre’s residents are under 62.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 44% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
71% of homes are second homes, more than in 99% 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
In Barbâtre, 9.1% of households have no car, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. Locally, 0.5% of households rent social housing (HLM). The comparison figure for second homes is 2.1% in the typical compared French town.
A change of +3% since 2012 leaves Barbâtre behind 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 Vendée town +9%.
Barbâtre sits above 99% of compared French towns for residents aged 65 and over (44%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Barbâtre 62.4. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 6.5% in Barbâtre and 11% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
12% of households are couples with children, below 97% 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 Vendée median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 1.9 people on average. 5.1% of households are single parents, a lower share than in 99% of compared French towns. As a reference point, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. With one-person households at 40%, Barbâtre is ahead of 70% of compared French towns on that count.
At the median, €27,310 a year to live on
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 €27,310 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 64% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 99% of compared French towns: 62%
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 (7.7%), Barbâtre is below 89% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 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).
Only 1.4% of residents are immigrants in Barbâtre
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.
4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, against 0.7% in Barbâtre. That is lower than in 97% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Vendée has 2.1%. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 99% of compared French towns: 17% of residents 15 and over are single
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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 53% in Barbâtre. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 71% of compared French towns, at 24%
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
Put another way, about one in five: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 1,824 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 37.2 in Villejust to 62.4 in Barbâtre.
No nearby town is as old as Barbâtre
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbâtre | 62.4 | 44% | 71% | 1.4% |
| Beauvoir-sur-Mer 4,035 · 6.2 mi | 61.5 | 42% | 13% | 1.8% |
| Noirmoutier-en-l'Île 4,505 · 6.6 mi | 59.2 | 39% | 69% | 1.8% |
| Saint-Gervais 2,781 · 8.7 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 9.3% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Jean-de-Monts 8,868 · 11.8 mi | 60.2 | 41% | 67% | 2% |
| Sallertaine 3,518 · 12.2 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 8.3% | 1.6% |
| La Bernerie-en-Retz 3,536 · 12.2 mi | 61.4 | 42% | 55% | 1.3% |
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 Barbâtre
What is the population of Barbâtre?
1,824 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (1,777).
How old are Barbâtre’s residents?
The median age is 62.4, older than 99% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 44% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Barbâtre?
2,390, with occasional dwellings: 71% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Barbâtre?
INSEE counts 26 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.4% of residents, and 12 foreign nationals (0.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Barbâtre?
€27,310 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.