Second homes: 5.8%, a higher share than 80% of compared French towns
With a median age of 48.5, Ornans is older than 77% of compared French towns. This Doubs town counted 4,419 residents and 2,150 households at the 2023 Census. Here, just over two in five households are one person living alone. Nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, against 38% 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.
Ornans’s population moved +1% on 2012, less than in 65% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Doubs town −1%.
Above 79% of compared French towns: 28% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ornans 48.5. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (10%), Ornans is below three fifths of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
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.
A smaller share of couples with children than 70% of compared French towns: 21%
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 people. Few places have so few single-parent households: 8.4% here, fewer than in just over three quarters of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
14% of households have no car, more than in 64% 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
12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, against 9.4% in Ornans. On average, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. Flats: 36% of the total. Lower than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns: 5.7% of homes stand empty.
Standard of living at the median: €26,260 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.
Half of residents live in households above €26,260 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 53% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 10.0% of residents.
A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 68% of compared French towns: 7%
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
16% of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. By way of comparison, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
3% of residents are foreign nationals, below 65% of compared French towns
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.
6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town, against 5.3% in Ornans. That is lower than in three fifths of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Doubs has 8.5%. In the typical compared French town, foreign nationals come to 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Ornans, 23% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 68% of compared French towns
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
Here, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 64% of compared French towns: 26%
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 account for 20%. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
41 French towns of 4,376 to 4,456 people: this is the 9th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Labège (33), the youngest, and Valras-Plage (67), the oldest.
Older than Ornans: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ornans | 48.5 | 28% | 5.8% | 5.3% |
| Saône 3,195 · 8.1 mi | 46.1 | 24% | 0.7% | 3.3% |
| Valdahon 5,705 · 9.7 mi | 35.2 | 18% | 1.6% | 5.6% |
| Besançon 118,489 · 11.3 mi | 35.6 | 19% | 2.5% | 15% |
| Thise 2,994 · 12.6 mi | 53.1 | 34% | 0.8% | 3.6% |
| École-Valentin 2,579 · 13.7 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 1.6% | 6.1% |
| Miserey-Salines 2,661 · 14.8 mi | 42.7 | 24% | 0.9% | 4.6% |
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 Ornans
What is the population of Ornans?
4,419 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% more than in 2012 (4,370).
How old are Ornans’ residents?
The median age is 48.5, older than 77% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ornans?
140, with occasional dwellings: 5.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ornans?
INSEE counts 240 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.3% of residents, and 130 foreign nationals (3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ornans?
€26,260 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 10.0% 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 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.