In Foreste, 1.3% of homes are flats, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Foreste has 31%. At the 2023 Census, 166 people lived in the town, in 66 households. For Foreste, the census puts single-parent households at 23%. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 92% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Aisne 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 Foreste
Fewer residents than in 2012
Foreste had 177 residents at the 2012 census and 166 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 91% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Foreste changed by −6% from 2012 to 2023, behind 91% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Aisne town −4%. The first five years brought −7%; the six to 2023, +1%.
Half of Foreste is under 41.3, younger than 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
■ Foreste 41.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Across Foreste, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
57% women, 43% men
About 75 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aisne 52.5%, France 51.8%.
31% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 73% 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 Aisne median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.5 people. The wider picture: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Lower than in 61% of compared French towns: 23% of households are couples with children.
A town of second homes: 5.3% of its homes
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
11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town, against 9.1% in Foreste. On the census count, 7.9% of homes stand empty. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €23,450 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 €23,450 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 77% of compared French towns.
Foreste ranks above 79% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 38%
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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. For comparison, 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).
Foreste ranks below 94% of compared French towns on immigrants: 1.8%
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 Aisne has 5.7%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 94% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants. Here, 0.6% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Foreste ranks below 77% of compared French towns on single residents: 22%
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
Set against 43% in the typical compared French town, just over two in five residents 15 and over are married in Foreste. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 23% in Foreste, more than in 69% 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
A quarter of Foreste’s residents 15 and over who have left education hold a higher-education diploma, against 30% in the median compared French town; 23% have no diploma (19%).
41 French towns of 166 to 2,582 people: this is the 6th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Of the 6 towns nearest Foreste, 5 are older
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 Foreste
What is the population of Foreste?
166 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (177).
How old are Foreste’s residents?
The median age is 41.3, younger than 70% of compared French towns. 27% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Foreste?
4, with occasional dwellings: 5.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Foreste?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.8% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Foreste?
€23,450 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.