Below 99% of compared French towns: 0.4% of households rent social housing (HLM)
With flats at 8.1%, Plaine is behind 90% of compared French towns on that count. Compared with other places, households without a car are scarce here: 3.8%, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns. The town had 983 residents in 430 households at the 2023 census. The census found that 7.7% of residents are 15 to 24 here.
Throughout this page, the Bas-Rhin 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 Plaine
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 160 second homes and occasional dwellings in Plaine, 26% of its 630 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 91% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Plaine’s residents are under 52.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 28% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5.8% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 94% of compared French towns: 26% of homes are second 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
By its share of empty homes (5.3%), Plaine is below 70% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. 3.2% of households arrived within the last two years, while 24% have stayed 30 years or more.
Slower than most: +1% since 2012, behind 68% 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
The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Bas-Rhin town +6%. The change was +2% from 2012 to 2017 and −1% from 2017 to 2023.
A median age of 52.2: Plaine is older than 89% 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
■ Plaine 52.2. The median compared French town: 44.
28% of residents are 65 or over; in the typical compared French town the figure is 22%.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Bas-Rhin 51.5%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 28%, a lower share than 83% 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 Bas-Rhin median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.2 people on average. 8% of households are single parents, fewer than in 81% of compared French towns. The benchmark for one-person households in the typical compared French town: 35%. Here 26% of households are couples with children, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €27,510 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 midpoint of living standards here is €27,510 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 66% of compared French towns.
In Plaine, 36% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 68% 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
8.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%). Households headed by a manual worker: 17% of the total. The share of households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 2.9%, a lower share than 83% 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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Plaine, 2.1%. As a yardstick, 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.
In Plaine, 19% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 94% of compared French towns
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
Against a figure of 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Plaine comes in at 51%. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Plaine sits below 61% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (27%)
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 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Plaine has 17%. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
Of 41 French towns its size (983 to 2,582 people), the 8th oldest
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.
Every neighbor is younger than Plaine
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plaine | 52.2 | 28% | 26% | 2.9% |
| La Broque 2,625 · 4.5 mi | 46.6 | 23% | 7.5% | 6.9% |
| Moyenmoutier 3,134 · 11.4 mi | 49.7 | 27% | 4.5% | 2.4% |
| Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines 4,851 · 12.1 mi | 47.7 | 24% | 7.8% | 11% |
| Saint-Dié-des-Vosges 19,251 · 12.8 mi | 46.5 | 27% | 2.9% | 12% |
| Barr 7,057 · 13.8 mi | 44 | 20% | 2.5% | 9% |
| Raon-l'Étape 5,886 · 14 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 2.8% | 4.4% |
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 Plaine
What is the population of Plaine?
983 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (978).
How old are Plaine’s residents?
The median age is 52.2, older than 89% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Plaine?
160, with occasional dwellings: 26% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Plaine?
INSEE counts 29 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.9% of residents, and 20 foreign nationals (2.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Plaine?
€27,510 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.