In Bellechaume, 3.9% of homes are flats, fewer than in 97% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 436 people lived in Bellechaume, in 200 households. In Bellechaume, 5.6% of households have no car. The share of couples with children tops 75% of compared French towns: 30%.
Throughout this page, the Yonne 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 Bellechaume
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 39 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bellechaume, 15% of its 250 homes: higher than in 91% 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.
More second homes than 91% of compared French towns: 15%
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
Car-free households: one in 18, where the median compared French town has 11%. 5.1% of households arrived within the last two years, while 23% have stayed 30 years or more. Few places have as many empty homes: 7.5% here, more than in 59% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Slower than most: ±0% since 2012, behind 68% 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 median Yonne town changed −4% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +2% and the next six −1%.
Bellechaume ranks below 75% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 9.4%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bellechaume 44.7. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 44.7, Bellechaume is older than 54% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. Roughly two in ten: 21% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of single-parent households than 95% 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 Yonne median and the France median
Living alone · share
On average, 2.2 people share a household. Few places have so few one-person households: 35% here, fewer than in just over half of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €24,340 a year in 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.
Half of Bellechaume’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,340 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 68% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 5%, a lower share than 86% 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
20% of households are headed by a manual worker (typical compared French town: 14%). Across Bellechaume, 28% of households are headed by a retired person. Against that, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.8% of residents are immigrants, below 94% 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.
0.7% of residents are foreign nationals; in the typical compared French town the figure is 4.3%. Typically, 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.
A higher share of married residents than 71% of compared French towns, at 46%
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
Where a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, Bellechaume has 24%. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
Graduates of higher education: 19%, a lower share than 87% 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
About one in five: that is how common adults with no qualification are in Bellechaume (20%). For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
18th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 436 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
A younger town than 5 of the 6 around it: Bellechaume
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellechaume | 44.7 | 21% | 15% | 1.8% |
| Brienon-sur-Armançon 3,032 · 3.5 mi | 47 | 25% | 7.3% | 6.1% |
| Saint-Florentin 4,164 · 6.3 mi | 47.7 | 28% | 3.5% | 18% |
| Migennes 6,688 · 6.7 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 1.8% | 17% |
| Joigny 9,016 · 10.2 mi | 43.4 | 25% | 4.8% | 21% |
| Appoigny 3,114 · 12.4 mi | 50.2 | 28% | 2.7% | 6.2% |
| Monéteau 4,114 · 13.6 mi | 52.1 | 32% | 2% | 6.2% |
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 Bellechaume
What is the population of Bellechaume?
436 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (434).
How old are Bellechaume’s residents?
The median age is 44.7, older than 54% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bellechaume?
39, with occasional dwellings: 15% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bellechaume?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.8% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (0.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bellechaume?
€24,340 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.