Fontaine is older than 97% of compared French towns: a median age of 58.3
Flats make up 1.5%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. 246 residents in 130 households: that is Fontaine at the 2023 Census. Put another way, about one in 20: 5.1% of households have no car. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Aube 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 Fontaine
An older town
Half of Fontaine’s residents are under 58.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 35% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.8% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Fontaine had 279 residents at the 2012 census and 246 in 2023, down 12%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Fontaine’s population moved −12% on 2012, less than in 98% 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 Aube town +2%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 4.5%, a lower share than 99% 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
■ Fontaine 58.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over a third of residents are 65 or over; in the typical compared French town the figure is 22%. Set beside that, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Aube 52.1%, France 51.8%.
Fontaine sits below 83% of compared French towns for couples with children (18%)
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 Aube median and the France median
Living alone · share
The share of one-person households trails three quarters of compared French towns: 30%. Few places have so few single-parent households: 8% here, fewer than in four fifths of compared French towns. Couples with children: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Each household has 2 people on average.
Fontaine ranks above 77% of compared French towns on second homes: 5%
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
Car-free households: one in 20, where the median compared French town has 11%. The usual figure: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 3.9% moved in during the last two years and 39% have stayed three decades or more.
A typical living standard of €26,640 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 Fontaine’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €26,640 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 57% of compared French towns.
Above 75% of compared French towns: 37% of households are headed by a retired person
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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 7.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Fontaine. By way of comparison, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. 16% of households are headed by a manual worker, or about one in six.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 2.4% of residents are foreign nationals in Fontaine
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 63% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Aube has 9.2%. Typically, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. The census found that 5% of residents are immigrants in Fontaine.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of single residents than 99% of compared French towns, at 12%
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
By its share of married residents (60%), Fontaine is above 99% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
18% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 91% 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
Locally, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 4th oldest of 41 French towns of 246 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 Fontaine
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontaine | 58.3 | 35% | 5% | 5% |
| Bar-sur-Aube 4,665 · 1.4 mi | 50.8 | 31% | 4.7% | 15% |
| Brienne-le-Château 2,672 · 15.1 mi | 53.3 | 32% | 2.3% | 2.5% |
| Bar-sur-Seine 2,858 · 16.9 mi | 48.1 | 28% | 1.8% | 6.4% |
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 Fontaine
What is the population of Fontaine?
246 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% fewer than in 2012 (279).
How old are Fontaine’s residents?
The median age is 58.3, older than 97% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 35% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fontaine?
7, with occasional dwellings: 5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fontaine?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5% of residents, and 6 foreign nationals (2.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fontaine?
€26,640 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.