52% of homes are second homes, more than in 98% of compared French towns
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Williers was home to 39 people in 18 households. 2.4% of homes are flats. Where one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Williers has 25%.
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 Williers
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 21 second homes and occasional dwellings in Williers, 52% of its 41 homes: higher than in 98% 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 ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 0 immigrants in Williers (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 60% of residents, against 6.7% for the median compared commune in Ardennes. 48% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Williers had 51 residents at the 2012 census and 39 in 2023, down 24%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Williers’ residents are under 52.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 23% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
4.9% of homes stand empty, fewer than in 75% 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. On the census count, just over one in ten households have no car. Across the comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
Slower growth than 99% of compared French towns: Williers changed by −24% since 2012
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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −18%, and from 2017 to 2023 −7%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Ardennes town −9%.
Half of Williers is over 52.3, older than 90% 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
■ Williers 52.3. The median compared French town: 44.
In Williers, one in ten residents are 15 to 24, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 23%.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 25%, a lower share than 94% 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
The typical household size is 2.2 people. Williers has fewer couples with children than 51% of compared French towns, at 25%. The wider picture: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Williers sits above 99% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (75%)
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
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 60%, a higher share than 99% 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.
48% of residents are foreign nationals (typical compared French town: 4.3%). Measured more widely, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
A higher share of married residents than 99% of compared French towns, at 60%
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
Higher than in 53% of compared French towns: 26% of residents 15 and over are single. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 9.4% in Williers, less than in 97% 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
Where 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, Williers has 44%. The benchmark for adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town: 19%.
The 8th oldest of 41 French towns of 39 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as old as Williers
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 Williers
What is the population of Williers?
39 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 24% fewer than in 2012 (51).
How old are Williers’ residents?
The median age is 52.3, older than 90% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Williers?
21, with occasional dwellings: 52% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Williers?
INSEE counts 23 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 60% of residents, and 19 foreign nationals (48%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.