Les Gras sits below 99% of compared French towns for households in social housing (0.3%)
The share of households without a car is 4.6%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 29% of households are headed by a manual worker. Compared with other places, empty homes are common here: 9.1%, more than in 73% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Les Gras’s population at 817, in 360 households.
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 Les Gras
One home in 10 is a second home
The census counted 46 second homes and occasional dwellings in Les Gras, 10% of its 440 homes: higher than in 88% of compared French towns. 45% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
A town of families
33% of households are couples with children and 5.5% single parents with children; 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A young town
Half of Les Gras’ residents are under 38.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 20% are under 15 and 17% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of second homes than 88% of compared French towns: 10%
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
7.4% of households moved in less than two years ago; 16% have been in their home 30 years or more. More flats than in nearly three fifths of compared French towns: 36%. To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Les Gras changed by +4% from 2012 to 2023, behind 53% 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 whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Doubs town −1%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought +2%; 2017 to 2023, +3%.
Younger than 87% of compared French towns: half of Les Gras is under 38.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Les Gras 38.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 22% in the typical compared French town, 17% of residents are 65 or over in Les Gras. Lower than in 58% of compared French towns: 10% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%.
Couples with children: 33%, a higher share than 88% 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 Doubs median and the France median
Living alone · share
The share of single-parent households trails 98% of compared French towns: 5.5%. The usual figure: a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. One-person households account for 32%.
Half above, half below €39,170 a year in standard of living
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 €39,170 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 98% of compared French towns.
Below 76% of compared French towns: 27% of households are headed by a retired person
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 11%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. For households headed by a retired person, the comparison 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).
A smaller share of foreign nationals than 63% of compared French towns: 3.1%
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.
In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants; in Les Gras, 5.4%. That is lower than in three fifths of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Doubs has 8.5%. The comparison figure for foreign nationals is 4.3% 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.
Les Gras ranks above 60% of compared French towns on married residents: 44%
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
Across Les Gras, nearly a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 76% of compared French towns, at 15%
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
33% of Les Gras’ residents 15 and over who have left education hold a higher-education diploma, against 30% in the median compared French town; 15% have no diploma (19%).
41 French towns of 817 to 2,582 people: this is the 2nd youngest
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.
Nearby, 4 of 6 towns have older populations than Les Gras
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Gras | 38.4 | 17% | 10% | 5.4% |
| Morteau 6,953 · 5 mi | 39.1 | 19% | 3.6% | 15% |
| Les Fins 3,048 · 6.6 mi | 42.2 | 18% | 2.6% | 9.6% |
| Villers-le-Lac 5,292 · 7.7 mi | 37.3 | 15% | 6.2% | 16% |
| Doubs 3,335 · 10.4 mi | 42.6 | 22% | 2.3% | 9.3% |
| Pontarlier 18,067 · 10.9 mi | 39.3 | 19% | 3.5% | 15% |
| Valdahon 5,705 · 14.4 mi | 35.2 | 18% | 1.6% | 5.6% |
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 Les Gras
What is the population of Les Gras?
817 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (784).
How old are Les Gras’ residents?
The median age is 38.4, younger than 87% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Les Gras?
46, with occasional dwellings: 10% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Les Gras?
INSEE counts 44 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.4% of residents, and 26 foreign nationals (3.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Les Gras?
€39,170 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.