A smaller share of flats than 99% of compared French towns: 0.4%
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 3.7% of households have no car in Bessay. The share of one-person households stands at 25%. Compared with other places, households headed by a retired person are common here: 40%, more than in 83% of compared French towns. 456 residents in 190 households: that is Bessay at the 2023 Census.
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.
Growth of +7% since 2012 puts Bessay 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
In two steps, ±0% to 2017 and +7% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +9% in Vendée.
Younger than 67% of compared French towns: half of Bessay is under 41.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bessay 41.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24, more than in 51% of compared French towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 22% in Bessay.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
In Bessay, 32% of households are couples with children, more than in 82% 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
With single-parent households at 7.3%, Bessay is behind 87% of compared French towns on that count. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%. Average household size: 2.4 people.
Bessay ranks above 88% of compared French towns on second homes: 9.8%
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 12% in the typical compared French town, the share of households in social housing in Bessay comes in at 5%. Empty homes are rarer here than in 90% of compared French towns. The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. In the last two years, 5.1% of households moved in; at the other end, 25% have stayed 30 years or more.
A typical living standard of €25,070 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.
At €25,070 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 59% of compared French towns.
Below 98% of compared French towns: 2.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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 14% in the typical compared French town, 23% of households are headed by a manual worker in Bessay. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 85% of compared French towns: 2.7% of residents are immigrants
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, 2.7% of residents are foreign nationals in Bessay. The wider picture: 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.
Only 22% of residents 15 and over are single in Bessay
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
The figure for married residents is 46% in Bessay and 43% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Bessay ranks below 74% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 23%
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
Few places have so few adults with no qualification: 18% here, fewer than in 55% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 456 to 2,582 people: this is the 8th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
A younger town than 4 of the 6 around it: Bessay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessay | 41.8 | 22% | 9.8% | 2.7% |
| Mareuil-sur-Lay-Dissais 2,808 · 2.9 mi | 50.4 | 30% | 6.3% | 2.4% |
| Saint-Jean-d'Hermine 3,611 · 4.4 mi | 42.4 | 22% | 5.2% | 3.1% |
| Luçon 9,417 · 5.5 mi | 56.2 | 36% | 4.2% | 3% |
| Bournezeau 3,452 · 6.6 mi | 39.8 | 19% | 4.7% | 1.7% |
| Rives de l'Yon 4,335 · 9.3 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 3.1% | 2% |
| La Chaize-le-Vicomte 3,948 · 11.4 mi | 40.1 | 16% | 3.7% | 2.2% |
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 Bessay
What is the population of Bessay?
456 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (426).
How old are Bessay’s residents?
The median age is 41.8, younger than 67% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bessay?
21, with occasional dwellings: 9.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bessay?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.7% of residents, and 12 foreign nationals (2.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bessay?
€25,070 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.