A lower share of households without a car than 99% of compared French towns, at 2%
With empty homes at 2.7%, Certines is behind 97% of compared French towns on that count. The 2023 Census counted 1,531 residents in 680 households. On the census count, 8.3% of residents are 15 to 24. Fewer single-parent households than in 88% of compared French towns: 7.2%.
Throughout this page, the Ain 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.
Certines’s population changed by +6% since 2012, more than in 56% 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 Ain town +13%.
In Certines, 19% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 70% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Certines 43.4. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Certines is 43.4, lower than in 54% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
Only 30% of households are one person living alone in Certines
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 Ain median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2.2 people. By way of comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. At 28%, the share of couples with children is higher than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns.
Below 64% of compared French towns: 22% of homes are flats
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
At 1.6%, the share of second homes is in line with the figure in the typical compared French town. 14% of households rent social housing (HLM), a higher share than in 59% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
At the median, €29,410 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €29,410 a year: higher than in 81% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a retired person than 76% of compared French towns: 27%
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
Put another way, about one in 12: nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional. At 14%, the share of households headed by a manual worker is lower than in just over half of compared French towns. The usual figure: 32% 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).
1% of residents are foreign nationals, fewer than in 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.
The median compared commune in Ain has 8.5%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 87% of compared French towns. The share of foreign nationals in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. Immigrants: 2.5% of the total.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
21% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 86% of compared French towns
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
Married residents: 47%, above 79% of compared French towns. Against that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Fewer adults with no qualification than 89% of compared French towns: 12%
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
Here 33% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. As a yardstick, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 13th youngest of 41 French towns of 1,531 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Certines sits below 3 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certines | 43.4 | 19% | 1.6% | 2.5% |
| Ceyzériat 3,328 · 3.7 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 2.7% | 4.2% |
| Péronnas 6,444 · 3.8 mi | 48.1 | 28% | 1.7% | 8.6% |
| Bourg-en-Bresse 42,372 · 4.4 mi | 41.4 | 23% | 2.5% | 19% |
| Saint-Denis-lès-Bourg 6,160 · 5.2 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 1.2% | 8.2% |
| Viriat 7,102 · 7.2 mi | 43 | 20% | 1.8% | 6.8% |
| Pont-d'Ain 2,843 · 7.4 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 4.1% | 8.7% |
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 Certines
What is the population of Certines?
1,531 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (1,443).
How old are Certines’ residents?
The median age is 43.4, younger than 54% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Certines?
11, with occasional dwellings: 1.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Certines?
INSEE counts 38 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.5% of residents, and 16 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Certines?
€29,410 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 October 30, 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.