Flats: 79%, a higher share than 94% of compared French towns
The median age in Pontarlier is 39.3, lower than in 83% of compared French towns. Its 9,290 households held 18,067 residents at the 2023 Census. Locally, nearly a quarter of households are headed by a manual worker. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%; Pontarlier has 19%.
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 Pontarlier
Many people living alone
49% of Pontarlier’s households are one person: higher than in 91% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 60% of compared French towns grew faster than Pontarlier: +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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Doubs town −1%.
A smaller share of residents aged 65 and over than 69% of compared French towns: 19%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Pontarlier 39.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 12%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%.
49% of households are one person living alone, more than in 91% 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
On average, 1.9 people share a household. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 72% of compared French towns.
Households without a car make up 15% in Pontarlier, more than in 70% 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
In the typical compared French town, 2.1% of homes are second homes; in Pontarlier, 3.5%. Households without a car: 11% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. For Pontarlier, the census puts empty homes at 7.2%. At 13%, the share of households in social housing is higher than in 53% of compared French towns.
A typical living standard of €28,590 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 Pontarlier’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €28,590 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 75% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 13.0% of the population.
A smaller share of households headed by a retired person than 76% of compared French towns: 27%
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
Census figures put households headed by a manager or professional at 8.5% in Pontarlier. Households headed by a retired person make up 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Pontarlier sits above 84% of compared French towns for immigrants (15%)
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.
Foreign nationals: 11% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Doubs has 8.5%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 84% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%.
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 single residents than 82% of compared French towns: 31%
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 39% in Pontarlier and 43% in the typical compared French town. On average, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
In Pontarlier, 22% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 63% 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
28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 30%. As a yardstick, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 12th youngest of 41 French towns of 17,435 to 18,710 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Moissy-Cramayel (33.2), the oldest Sanary-sur-Mer (59.7).
Among its 5 nearest neighbors, 3 are older than Pontarlier
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Pontarlier
What is the population of Pontarlier?
18,067 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (17,631).
How old are Pontarlier’s residents?
The median age is 39.3, younger than 83% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pontarlier?
360, with occasional dwellings: 3.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pontarlier?
INSEE counts 2,630 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 15% of residents, and 1,960 foreign nationals (11%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pontarlier?
€28,590 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 13.0% 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.