Below 99% of compared French towns: 0.4% of households rent social housing (HLM)
Half of Mathay’s residents are over 50.1, older than in 83% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Mathay was home to 2,115 people in 950 households. Single-parent households account for 6.3%. Flats make up 15%, against 30% in the typical compared French town.
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, 78% of compared French towns grew faster than Mathay: −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 change was ±0% from 2012 to 2017 and −2% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Doubs town −1%.
27% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 78% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mathay 50.1. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24; in Mathay, 9.4%. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Mathay, 29% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 80% 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
27% of households are couples with children; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town. A household here holds 2.2 people on average.
Only 5.6% of households have no car in Mathay
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
One household in 18 has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. The share of second homes stands at 1.1%. Empty homes are rarer here than in 54% of compared French towns.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €27,850 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.
At €27,850 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 69% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 6.0% of residents are below the line.
Mathay sits above 86% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (41%)
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 Mathay, 8% of households are headed by a manager or professional, beside 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, households headed by a manual worker are scarce here: 13%, fewer than in 54% of compared French towns. Typically, 32% 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).
Mathay ranks below 82% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 1.8%
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.
Here 3.8% of residents are immigrants, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 6.5%. In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals. That is lower than in three quarters 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 larger share of married residents than 92% of compared French towns: 50%
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
Single residents: 20%, below 89% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
Graduates of higher education make up 28% in Mathay, less than in 59% 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
Adults with no qualification come to 20% in Mathay, about two in ten. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41 French towns of 2,115 to 2,582 people: this is the 14th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
1 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Mathay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathay | 50.1 | 27% | 1.1% | 3.8% |
| Mandeure 4,612 · 1.7 mi | 45.6 | 24% | 0.9% | 7.7% |
| Voujeaucourt 3,174 · 2.6 mi | 47.4 | 23% | 0.7% | 6% |
| Valentigney 10,501 · 2.9 mi | 43.2 | 23% | 1.7% | 17% |
| Pont-de-Roide-Vermondans 3,912 · 3.5 mi | 51.8 | 30% | 1.8% | 4.6% |
| Seloncourt 5,854 · 3.9 mi | 48.5 | 26% | 0.3% | 6.2% |
| Bavans 3,582 · 3.9 mi | 48.9 | 26% | 0.9% | 5.1% |
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 Mathay
What is the population of Mathay?
2,115 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (2,158).
How old are Mathay’s residents?
The median age is 50.1, older than 83% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mathay?
11, with occasional dwellings: 1.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mathay?
INSEE counts 80 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.8% of residents, and 38 foreign nationals (1.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mathay?
€27,850 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 6.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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 October 30, 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.