Fewer households without a car than 99% of compared French towns: 1.5%
The figure for second homes is 6% in Ferrières-le-Lac and 2.1% in the typical compared French town. The town is home to 160 residents in 76 households, by the 2023 Census. 16% of residents are 65 or over, or about one in six. At 29%, the share of households headed by a retired person is lower than in 71% 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 Ferrières-le-Lac
Fewer residents than in 2012
Ferrières-le-Lac had 182 residents at the 2012 census and 160 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.
Ferrières-le-Lac’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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Doubs town −1%.
Above 83% of compared French towns: 13% of residents are 15 to 24
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ferrières-le-Lac 43.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Ferrières-le-Lac’s residents are under 43.9, younger than in just over half of compared French towns. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 117 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%.
Above 79% of compared French towns: 43% 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
Couples with children: 29% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for one-person households in the typical compared French town: 35%. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
A lower share of flats than 67% of compared French towns, at 21%
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the last two years, one in ten households moved in; at the other end, 18% have stayed 30 years or more.
A typical living standard of €33,120 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.
Living standards centre on €33,120 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 93% of compared French towns.
Ferrières-le-Lac: 43% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 99% 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
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Ferrières-le-Lac ranks below 98% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 0.7%
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 share of immigrants is 3.5%, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. That is lower than in 78% 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.
Only 41% of residents 15 and over are married in Ferrières-le-Lac
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
27% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
12% of adults out of school have no qualification, below 88% 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
Graduates of higher education: 20%, below 85% of compared French towns. On average, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 16th youngest of 41 French towns this size
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.
Ferrières-le-Lac is younger than 2 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferrières-le-Lac | 43.9 | 16% | 6% | 3.5% |
| Maîche 4,254 · 4.2 mi | 42.4 | 23% | 2.7% | 9.2% |
| Charquemont 2,900 · 4.8 mi | 37.9 | 16% | 3.4% | 7.7% |
| Pont-de-Roide-Vermondans 3,912 · 10.2 mi | 51.8 | 30% | 1.8% | 4.6% |
| Le Russey 2,599 · 10.4 mi | 37.6 | 15% | 2.5% | 8.4% |
| Hérimoncourt 3,508 · 11.9 mi | 42.6 | 21% | 0.2% | 6.3% |
| Mandeure 4,612 · 13 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 Ferrières-le-Lac
What is the population of Ferrières-le-Lac?
160 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% fewer than in 2012 (182).
How old are Ferrières-le-Lac’s residents?
The median age is 43.9, younger than 51% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ferrières-le-Lac?
5, with occasional dwellings: 6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ferrières-le-Lac?
INSEE counts 6 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.5% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ferrières-le-Lac?
€33,120 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 9, 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.