4.2% of households have no car, below 93% of compared French towns
11% of homes are flats, against 30% in the typical compared French town. There were 170 households in Appenans at the 2023 Census, home to 385 residents. On the census count, 16% of households are couples with children. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Doubs 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 Appenans
Fewer residents than in 2012
Appenans had 424 residents at the 2012 census and 385 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of −9% since 2012 leaves Appenans behind 96% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −11%, and from 2017 to 2023 +2%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Doubs town −1%.
Older than 81% of compared French towns: half of Appenans is over 49.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Appenans 49.5. The median compared French town: 44.
22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, against 26% in Appenans. On the census count, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%.
Below 65% of compared French towns: 32% of households are one person living alone
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 Doubs median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.2 people on average. 11% of households are single parents, more than in 70% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, just over a third of households are one person living alone.
In Appenans, 3.7% of homes are second homes, more than in 69% 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
Some nearly one in ten households are newcomers of under two years, against 32% who have been there 30 years or more. Empty homes are rarer here than in 56% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Median standard of living: €27,200 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 Appenans’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €27,200 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 63% of compared French towns.
Below 81% of compared French towns: 5.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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
In Appenans, just over one in ten households are headed by a manual worker, beside 14% in the typical compared French town. Nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person, a lower share than in 53% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of foreign nationals than 93% of compared French towns, at 1%
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.
3.1% of residents are immigrants (typical compared French town: 6.5%). The usual figure: 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. That is lower than in four fifths of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Doubs has 8.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
20% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 93% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%; Appenans has 49%. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 64% of compared French towns: 26%
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
On adults with no qualification, Appenans sits higher than 56% of compared French towns: 20%. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
The 14th oldest of 41 French towns of 385 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.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 2 are older than Appenans
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appenans | 49.5 | 26% | 3.7% | 3.1% |
| L'Isle-sur-le-Doubs 2,780 · 1 mi | 52.1 | 30% | 2.1% | 3.4% |
| Bavans 3,582 · 8.2 mi | 48.9 | 26% | 0.9% | 5.1% |
| Voujeaucourt 3,174 · 9.7 mi | 47.4 | 23% | 0.7% | 6% |
| Pont-de-Roide-Vermondans 3,912 · 10.3 mi | 51.8 | 30% | 1.8% | 4.6% |
| Montbéliard 24,672 · 11.6 mi | 41.2 | 24% | 2.5% | 20% |
| Mandeure 4,612 · 11.8 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 0.9% | 7.7% |
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 Appenans
What is the population of Appenans?
385 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (424).
How old are Appenans’ residents?
The median age is 49.5, older than 81% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Appenans?
7, with occasional dwellings: 3.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Appenans?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.1% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Appenans?
€27,200 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.