2.2% of households rent social housing (HLM), fewer than in 96% of compared French towns
11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town, against 3.7% in Fontain. On the census count, 28% of households are one person living alone. At 8.3%, the share of households headed by a manual worker is lower than in 86% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 1,207 residents and 530 households locally.
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.
From 2012 to 2023, 79% of compared French towns grew faster than Fontain: −2%
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 Doubs town changed −1% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +5% and the next six −7%.
Older than 80% of compared French towns: half of Fontain is over 49.2
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fontain 49.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 9.6% of residents are 15 to 24 in Fontain. The census found that 25% of residents are 65 or over here.
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%.
Fontain ranks below 85% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 7.6%
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
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, 28% of households are couples with children here. As a yardstick, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Households average 2.3 people.
Fontain sits below 71% of compared French towns for flats (18%)
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
Of all households, 5.5% moved in during the last two years and 31% have stayed three decades or more. Few places have so few empty homes: 5.6% here, fewer than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. 1.4% of homes are second homes, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
€31,190 a year is the median standard of living here
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.
At €31,190 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 89% of compared French towns.
40% of households are headed by a retired person, a share 84% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 make up 12%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, nearly a third 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).
Fontain ranks below 99% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 0.2%
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.
Compared with 6.5% in the typical compared French town, 2.3% of residents are immigrants here. In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals. That is lower than in 88% 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.
A higher share of married residents than 98% of compared French towns, at 53%
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, 25% of residents 15 and over are single; in Fontain, 18%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
In Fontain, 40% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 80% 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
The share of adults with no qualification trails 72% of compared French towns: 15%. For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,207 to 2,582 people), the 15th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Older than Fontain: 1 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontain | 49.2 | 25% | 1.4% | 2.3% |
| Besançon 118,489 · 3.1 mi | 35.6 | 19% | 2.5% | 15% |
| Saône 3,195 · 4.5 mi | 46.1 | 24% | 0.7% | 3.3% |
| École-Valentin 2,579 · 5.4 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 1.6% | 6.1% |
| Thise 2,994 · 6.2 mi | 53.1 | 34% | 0.8% | 3.6% |
| Miserey-Salines 2,661 · 6.5 mi | 42.7 | 24% | 0.9% | 4.6% |
| Les Auxons 2,533 · 7.7 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 0.7% | 3.7% |
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 Fontain
What is the population of Fontain?
1,207 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (1,237).
How old are Fontain’s residents?
The median age is 49.2, older than 80% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fontain?
8, with occasional dwellings: 1.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fontain?
INSEE counts 28 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.3% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (0.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fontain?
€31,190 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.