Only 0.5% of homes are flats in Fontenille
Residents aged 15 to 24: 6.5% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. Census day 2023: 353 residents and 160 households in Fontenille. For Fontenille, the census puts households without a car at 1.2%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 98% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Charente 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 Fontenille
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 28 second homes and occasional dwellings in Fontenille, 13% of its 210 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 96% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 13% 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
9.4% of homes stand empty, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town. The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%.
From 2012 to 2023, 57% of compared French towns grew faster than Fontenille: +3%
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 −6%, and from 2017 to 2023 +10%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Charente town +1%.
Older than 84% of compared French towns: half of Fontenille is over 50.3
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fontenille 50.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 22% in the typical compared French town, 28% of residents are 65 or over here.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 113 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%.
Above 77% of compared French towns: 30% of households are couples with children
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 Charente median and the France median
Living alone · share
35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town, against 30% in Fontenille. By way of comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. On average, 2.2 people share a household. Fewer single-parent households than in 65% of compared French towns: 9.1%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €23,900 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €23,900 a year: lower than in 73% of compared French towns.
3% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 97% 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
14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, against 21% in Fontenille. On households headed by a retired person, Fontenille sits higher than 93% of compared French towns: 45%. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fontenille ranks below 68% of compared French towns on immigrants: 4.5%
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 census found that 4% of residents are foreign nationals in Fontenille. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A smaller share of single residents than 99% of compared French towns: 17%
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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 53% in Fontenille. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Only 24% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Fontenille
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
For Fontenille, the census puts adults with no qualification at 19%. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
14th highest median age among 41 French towns of 353 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 2 are older than Fontenille
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontenille | 50.3 | 28% | 13% | 4.5% |
| Ruffec 3,449 · 7.7 mi | 55.8 | 37% | 4.9% | 10% |
| La Boixe 2,841 · 10.9 mi | 45.7 | 25% | 3.8% | 1.7% |
| Brie 4,125 · 13.9 mi | 42.4 | 19% | 1.2% | 1.6% |
| Champniers 5,281 · 14.3 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 1.7% | 2.4% |
| Rouillac 2,919 · 14.4 mi | 49.3 | 30% | 5.7% | 2.6% |
| Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure 3,111 · 14.8 mi | 52 | 32% | 2.5% | 4.7% |
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 Fontenille
What is the population of Fontenille?
353 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (342).
How old are Fontenille’s residents?
The median age is 50.3, older than 84% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fontenille?
28, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fontenille?
INSEE counts 16 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.5% of residents, and 14 foreign nationals (4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fontenille?
€23,900 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.