1.8% of homes are flats, below 99% of compared French towns
4.2% of households have no car, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing make up about one in 91 here (1.1%). Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in just over three quarters of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 434 people lived in Branches, in 190 households.
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 Branches
Fewer residents than in 2012
Branches had 483 residents at the 2012 census and 434 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 11% single parents with children; 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −10% since 2012, behind 97% 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 −7% from 2012 to 2017 and −4% from 2017 to 2023.
Branches is younger than 68% of compared French towns: a median age of 41.6
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Branches 41.6. The median compared French town: 44.
9% of residents are 15 to 24; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Above 91% of compared French towns: 34% of households are couples with children
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
29% of households are one person living alone; in the typical compared French town the figure is 35%. The usual figure: 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2.3 people each. More single-parent households than in 58% of compared French towns: 11%.
5.4% of homes are second homes, a share 78% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
7.4% of households moved in less than two years ago; 24% have been in their home 30 years or more. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Higher than in 73% of compared French towns: 9% of homes stand empty.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €28,080 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 median standard of living in Branches is €28,080 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 71% of compared French towns.
11% of households are headed by a manual worker, fewer than in 73% 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
In the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional; in Branches, 7.9%. The usual figure: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a retired person make up about one in three here (34%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 99% of compared French towns: 0.9%
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.
The median compared commune in Yonne has 9.2%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals is 4.3%; Branches has 0.9%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 90% of compared French towns: 20% 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
At 43%, the share of married residents is higher than in 54% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Below 74% of compared French towns: 15% of adults out of school have no qualification
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
The share of graduates of higher education is 27%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Typically, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
7th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 434 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Every neighbor is older than Branches
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Branches
What is the population of Branches?
434 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (483).
How old are Branches’ residents?
The median age is 41.6, younger than 68% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Branches?
12, with occasional dwellings: 5.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Branches?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.9% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Branches?
€28,080 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.