Half of Montferrand-le-Château is over 51.8, older than 88% of compared French towns
In Montferrand-le-Château, 4.6% of households rent social housing (HLM), beside 12% in the typical compared French town. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 2,180, in 930 households. About one in 20: that is how common households without a car are in Montferrand-le-Château (4.9%). Compared with other places, one-person households are scarce here: 31%, fewer than in 73% 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 Montferrand-le-Château
An older town
Half of Montferrand-le-Château’s residents are under 51.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A −1% change since 2012: slower than 73% 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%.
In Montferrand-le-Château, 8.1% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 92% 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
■ Montferrand-le-Château 51.8. The median compared French town: 44.
30% of residents are 65 or over (typical compared French town: 22%). To put it in context, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 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.
A smaller share of single-parent households than 68% of compared French towns: 8.9%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%; Montferrand-le-Château has 27%. By way of comparison, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
Montferrand-le-Château sits below 67% of compared French towns for flats (20%)
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
Second homes make up 2.8%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Here, 5.4% of homes stand empty.
A median of €27,850 a year per consumption unit
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 €27,850 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 69% of compared French towns.
19% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 80% 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
Just over one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%). For Montferrand-le-Château, the census puts households headed by a retired person at 36%. The share of households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 2.3% of residents are foreign nationals in Montferrand-le-Château
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 median compared commune in Doubs has 8.5%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 56% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. For Montferrand-le-Château, the census puts immigrants at 5.8%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 94% of compared French towns: 19% of residents 15 and over are single
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
The figure for married residents is 49% in Montferrand-le-Château and 43% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Montferrand-le-Château: 35% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, above 66% 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
Set against 19% in the typical compared French town, just over a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in Montferrand-le-Château. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
9th highest median age among 41 French towns of 2,180 to 2,582
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).
No nearby town is as old as Montferrand-le-Château
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montferrand-le-Château | 51.8 | 30% | 2.8% | 5.8% |
| Saint-Vit 5,133 · 4.7 mi | 43.1 | 22% | 1.2% | 5.8% |
| Besançon 118,489 · 6.3 mi | 35.6 | 19% | 2.5% | 15% |
| École-Valentin 2,579 · 7.1 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 1.6% | 6.1% |
| Miserey-Salines 2,661 · 7.7 mi | 42.7 | 24% | 0.9% | 4.6% |
| Les Auxons 2,533 · 8.4 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 0.7% | 3.7% |
| Saône 3,195 · 9.9 mi | 46.1 | 24% | 0.7% | 3.3% |
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 Montferrand-le-Château
What is the population of Montferrand-le-Château?
2,180 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (2,195).
How old are Montferrand-le-Château’s residents?
The median age is 51.8, older than 88% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Montferrand-le-Château?
28, with occasional dwellings: 2.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Montferrand-le-Château?
INSEE counts 130 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.8% of residents, and 49 foreign nationals (2.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Montferrand-le-Château?
€27,850 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.