Photo: oatsy40 · CC BY 2.0Older than 99% of compared French towns: half of Bretignolles-sur-Mer is over 62.9
By its share of empty homes (1.9%), Bretignolles-sur-Mer is below 98% of compared French towns. 1.4% of households rent social housing (HLM). Few places have so few households headed by a manual worker: 6.6% here, fewer than in 92% of compared French towns. This Vendée town had 5,344 residents in 2,760 households 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.
What stands out about the people of Bretignolles-sur-Mer
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 5,390 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bretignolles-sur-Mer, 65% of its 8,320 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 96% 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 Bretignolles-sur-Mer’s residents are under 62.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 46% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Growing fast
Bretignolles-sur-Mer had 4,256 residents at the 2012 census and 5,344 in 2023, up 26%: faster growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A higher share of second homes than 99% of compared French towns, at 65%
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
One in ten households moved in less than two years ago; 9.1% have been in their home 30 years or more. Second homes make up 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Lower than in 95% of compared French towns: 5.2% of homes are flats. Add to that, in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%; Bretignolles-sur-Mer has 6.6%.
Faster growth than 95% of compared French towns: Bretignolles-sur-Mer changed by +26% since 2012
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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was +10%; from 2017 to 2023, +14%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Vendée town +9%.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 99% of compared French towns, at 46%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bretignolles-sur-Mer 62.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 6.1% of residents are 15 to 24 in Bretignolles-sur-Mer. As a yardstick, 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.
A smaller share of couples with children than 91% of compared French towns: 15%
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
Set against 10% in the typical compared French town, 5.7% of households are single parents in Bretignolles-sur-Mer. The benchmark for couples with children in the typical compared French town: 25%. The census found that 37% of households are one person living alone locally.
Median living standard: €28,160 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 €28,160 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 72% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 7.0%.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 61% of households are headed by a retired person
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
6.8% of households are headed by a manager or professional; in the typical compared French town the figure is 9.4%. Across the comparison, 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).
A smaller share of foreign nationals than 94% of compared French towns: 1%
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 87% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Vendée has 2.1%. Set beside that, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Census figures put immigrants at 2.5% in Bretignolles-sur-Mer.
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: 16% 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
In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married; in Bretignolles-sur-Mer, 55%. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Adults with no qualification: 16%, a lower share than 65% 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
Against a figure of 30% in the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education in Bretignolles-sur-Mer comes in at 27%. By way of comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 5,282 to 5,401 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.
At the ends of the range sit Cruseilles (36.3), the youngest, and Bretignolles-sur-Mer (62.9), the oldest.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 1 are older than Bretignolles-sur-Mer
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bretignolles-sur-Mer | 62.9 | 46% | 65% | 2.5% |
| Brem-sur-Mer 2,993 · 2.5 mi | 60.2 | 42% | 39% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie 8,333 · 5.3 mi | 63.7 | 48% | 49% | 3.1% |
| L'Île-d'Olonne 2,802 · 5.8 mi | 50.5 | 26% | 11% | 1.4% |
| Le Fenouiller 4,978 · 6.1 mi | 57 | 35% | 13% | 1.7% |
| Coëx 3,428 · 7 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 9.8% | 1.7% |
| Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez 13,074 · 8.1 mi | 61.8 | 43% | 61% | 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 Bretignolles-sur-Mer
What is the population of Bretignolles-sur-Mer?
5,344 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 26% more than in 2012 (4,256).
How old are Bretignolles-sur-Mer’s residents?
The median age is 62.9, older than 99% of compared French towns. 12% are under 18 and 46% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bretignolles-sur-Mer?
5,390, with occasional dwellings: 65% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bretignolles-sur-Mer?
INSEE counts 130 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.5% of residents, and 54 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bretignolles-sur-Mer?
€28,160 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 7.0% 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.