A lower share of flats than 96% of compared French towns, at 4.9%
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (30%), Iron is above 99% of compared French towns. The town counted 224 residents and 100 households at the 2023 Census. The census found that 8.3% of residents are 15 to 24 locally. Few places have so few one-person households: 32% here, fewer than in 68% 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 Iron
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 17 second homes and occasional dwellings in Iron, 13% of its 130 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 100% 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.
In Iron, 13% of homes are second homes, more than in 90% of compared French towns
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The census found that nearly one in ten households have no car in Iron. In the typical compared French town, second homes come to 2.1%. One household in 12 has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town.
A −2% change since 2012: slower than 77% 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
Here the change came as +5% to 2017, then −6% to 2023.
Half of Iron is over 48.1, older than 75% 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
■ Iron 48.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 26%, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aisne 52.5%, France 51.8%.
In Iron, 23% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 61% 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 2.2 people. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, couples with children come to 25%.
€22,550 a year is the median standard of living here
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 Iron is €22,550 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 92% of compared French towns: 4.1%
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, the share of households headed by a retired person is 32%; Iron has 36%. As a yardstick, 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).
Immigrants: 1.3%, a lower share than 98% 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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 0.9% of residents are foreign nationals in Iron. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 88% of compared French towns: 49%
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
22% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
In Iron, 8.8% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 99% 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
With adults with no qualification at 27%, Iron is ahead of 85% of compared French towns on that count. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 15th oldest of 41 French towns of 224 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Iron is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron | 48.1 | 26% | 13% | 1.3% |
| Guise 4,490 · 3.9 mi | 47.9 | 27% | 1% | 1.8% |
| Bohain-en-Vermandois 5,605 · 9.2 mi | 41.1 | 21% | 0.8% | 4.9% |
| Fresnoy-le-Grand 2,890 · 10.7 mi | 44.1 | 23% | 1.2% | 2.7% |
| Le Cateau-Cambrésis 6,764 · 11.4 mi | 42 | 21% | 1.5% | 3.1% |
| Landrecies 3,407 · 11.7 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Vervins 2,549 · 14 mi | 42.2 | 23% | 2.2% | 4.2% |
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 Iron
What is the population of Iron?
224 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (228).
How old are Iron’s residents?
The median age is 48.1, older than 75% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Iron?
17, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Iron?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.3% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Iron?
€22,550 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.