37% of households are couples with children, more than in 96% of compared French towns
A fifth of households are headed by a manual worker, against 14% in the typical compared French town. In 2023, the Census found 1,394 residents in Payns, living in 550 households. Flats make up about one in 38 here (2.6%). The town has fewer households in social housing than 99% of compared French towns, at 0.2%.
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 Payns
A town of families
37% of households are couples with children and 5.4% single parents with children; 19% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
+7% since 2012, a pace 59% of compared French towns didn’t match
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
The median Aube town changed +2% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +5% and the next six +2%.
Below 83% of compared French towns: 17% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Payns 41.7. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 41.7, Payns is younger than just over two thirds of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over. Residents aged 15 to 24 come to 11% locally, about one in ten.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Aube 52.1%, France 51.8%.
Payns ranks below 97% of compared French towns on one-person households: 23%
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
Average household size: 2.5 people. On single-parent households, Payns sits lower than 98% of compared French towns: 5.4%. The comparison figure for one-person households is 35% in the typical compared French town.
Payns sits below 95% of compared French towns for households without a car (3.9%)
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
Second homes: 0.8%, below 86% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town. For Payns, the census puts empty homes at 4.7%.
A typical living standard of €27,330 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 median standard of living in Payns is €27,330 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 64% of compared French towns.
26% of households are headed by a retired person, below 79% 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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 52% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 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).
Fewer foreign nationals than 80% of compared French towns: 1.9%
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 71% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Aube has 9.2%. In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals. Here, 4.2% of residents are immigrants.
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 89% of compared French towns: 21%
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
The figure for married residents is 48% in Payns and 43% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
A higher share of graduates of higher education than 55% of compared French towns, at 31%
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
The share of adults with no qualification stands at 18%. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 1,394 to 2,582 people, the 7th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Median age: 5 of the 6 towns around Payns are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payns | 41.7 | 17% | 0.8% | 4.2% |
| Saint-Lyé 2,956 · 2 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 1.1% | 5% |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Luc 12,648 · 5.7 mi | 36.3 | 19% | 1.1% | 24% |
| Les Noës-près-Troyes 3,261 · 6.2 mi | 43.8 | 25% | 0.8% | 15% |
| Sainte-Savine 10,289 · 6.8 mi | 46 | 24% | 2.2% | 8.1% |
| La Rivière-de-Corps 3,692 · 7 mi | 44.6 | 25% | 0.9% | 6% |
| Pont-Sainte-Marie 5,249 · 7.2 mi | 43.8 | 26% | 0.8% | 13% |
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 Payns
What is the population of Payns?
1,394 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (1,303).
How old are Payns’ residents?
The median age is 41.7, younger than 68% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Payns?
5, with occasional dwellings: 0.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Payns?
INSEE counts 59 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.2% of residents, and 27 foreign nationals (1.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Payns?
€27,330 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.