Below 93% of compared French towns: 3.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional
By its share of second homes (0.2%), Novillars is below 99% of compared French towns. The town had 1,334 residents in 520 households at the 2023 Census. 43% of homes are flats. The median age locally is 45, higher than in 56% 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 Novillars
Fewer residents than in 2012
Novillars had 1,541 residents at the 2012 census and 1,334 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Social housing
30% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 12% rent privately and 57% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Novillars’s population moved −13% on 2012, less than in 99% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and −1% for the median Doubs town, the change came in two steps: −3% from 2012 to 2017, then −11% to 2023.
Only 20% of residents are 65 or over in Novillars
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Novillars 45. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 53% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
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%.
More single-parent households than 89% of compared French towns: 13%
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
Households average 2.3 people. Fewer couples with children than in just over three fifths of compared French towns: 23%. The wider picture: 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Compared with 35% in the typical compared French town, 36% of households are one person living alone here.
Households in social housing: 30%, a higher share than 92% of compared French towns
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
Empty homes account for 7.3%. Households without a car are more common here than in 51% of compared French towns.
€24,140 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 €24,140 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 70% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker: 9.7%, a lower share than 78% 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
Households headed by a retired person make up 37%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. On average, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 59% of compared French towns: 5.5% of residents are immigrants
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 Novillars, 3.7% of residents are foreign nationals. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Novillars sits above 95% of compared French towns for single residents (37%)
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
Against a figure of 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Novillars comes in at 38%. Typically, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of adults with no qualification than 98% of compared French towns: 36%
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
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 23% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification here. In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,334 to 2,582 people), the 20th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Novillars sits below 3 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novillars | 45 | 20% | 0.2% | 5.5% |
| Thise 2,994 · 2.7 mi | 53.1 | 34% | 0.8% | 3.6% |
| Saône 3,195 · 4.6 mi | 46.1 | 24% | 0.7% | 3.3% |
| Besançon 118,489 · 6.3 mi | 35.6 | 19% | 2.5% | 15% |
| École-Valentin 2,579 · 6.8 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 1.6% | 6.1% |
| Miserey-Salines 2,661 · 7.3 mi | 42.7 | 24% | 0.9% | 4.6% |
| Les Auxons 2,533 · 8.2 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 Novillars
What is the population of Novillars?
1,334 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (1,541).
How old are Novillars’ residents?
The median age is 45, older than 56% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Novillars?
1, with occasional dwellings: 0.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Novillars?
INSEE counts 74 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.5% of residents, and 50 foreign nationals (3.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Novillars?
€24,140 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.