Older than 95% of compared French towns: half of Laifour is over 56.3
Households headed by a manager or professional: 2.5% here and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. 18% of households are couples with children, or about one in six. Fewer flats than in 87% of compared French towns: 9.9%. There were 210 households in Laifour at the 2023 Census, home to 399 residents.
Throughout this page, the Ardennes 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 Laifour
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 31 second homes and occasional dwellings in Laifour, 12% of its 270 homes: higher than in 89% 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 ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Laifour had 498 residents at the 2012 census and 399 in 2023, down 20%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Laifour’s residents are under 56.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 30 homes empty (11%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 12% 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
Here 18% of households have no car, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. Second homes: 2.1% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Households in social housing: a tenth of the total. Empty homes are more common here than in 85% of compared French towns.
A change of −20% since 2012 leaves Laifour behind 99% 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 −10% to 2017, then −11% to 2023. Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −9% in Ardennes.
Laifour: 33% of residents are 65 or over, above 91% 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
■ Laifour 56.3. The median compared French town: 44.
In Laifour, nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%.
5% of households are single parents, below 99% 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 Ardennes median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 1.9 people on average. More one-person households than in 83% of compared French towns: 45%. For comparison, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €21,870 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.
Half of residents live in households above €21,870 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 89% of compared French towns.
Laifour: 45% of households are headed by a retired person, above 93% 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
25% of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. Households headed by a retired person make up 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Laifour: 5.6% of residents are immigrants
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 Ardennes has 6.7%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in nearly three fifths of compared French towns. About one in 18: that is how common immigrants are in Laifour (5.6%). This Ardennes town sits close to the norm on foreign nationals: 5%, about the same as 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.
Fewer single residents than 74% of compared French towns: 23%
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 make up 44%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
In Laifour, 14% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 98% 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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Laifour comes in at 29%. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
5th highest median age among 41 French towns of 399 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).
No nearby town is as old as Laifour
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laifour | 56.3 | 33% | 12% | 5.6% |
| Revin 5,716 · 3.1 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 3% | 12% |
| Bogny-sur-Meuse 4,889 · 4.8 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 1.5% | 4.3% |
| Fumay 3,086 · 5.5 mi | 52.3 | 29% | 4.2% | 15% |
| Nouzonville 5,523 · 6.8 mi | 46 | 23% | 0.9% | 6.2% |
| Charleville-Mézières 45,560 · 10.1 mi | 43.4 | 23% | 2.3% | 11% |
| Villers-Semeuse 3,615 · 11.8 mi | 49.6 | 27% | 0.5% | 5.8% |
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 Laifour
What is the population of Laifour?
399 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% fewer than in 2012 (498).
How old are Laifour’s residents?
The median age is 56.3, older than 95% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Laifour?
31, with occasional dwellings: 12% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Laifour?
INSEE counts 22 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.6% of residents, and 20 foreign nationals (5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Laifour?
€21,870 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 8, 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.