Puessans: 67% of households are one person living alone, above 99% of compared French towns
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 6.5%, Puessans is behind 98% of compared French towns on that count. Compared with other places, empty homes are common here: 8.8%, more than in 71% of compared French towns. This Doubs town is home to 32 residents in 21 households, by the 2023 Census. 20% fewer people than in 2012.
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 Puessans
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 4 second homes and occasional dwellings in Puessans, 13% of its 27 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
67% of Puessans’ households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 56% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Puessans had 40 residents at the 2012 census and 32 in 2023, down 20%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 13% of its homes
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Across Puessans, 5% of households have no car. In the typical compared French town, the share of second homes is 2.1%. Without a car: one household in 20, against 11% in the median compared French town.
From 2012 to 2023, 99% of compared French towns grew faster than Puessans: −20%
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
In two steps, −23% to 2017 and +3% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −1% in Doubs.
29% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 83% 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
■ Puessans 48.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Puessans’s residents are over 48.8, older than in 78% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
39% women, 61% men
About 63 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%.
21 households; about half (67%) are one person
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
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The typical household size is 1.6 people.
In Puessans, 33% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 55% 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 manual worker are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 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).
A lower share of immigrants than 80% of compared French towns, at 3.2%
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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Against that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Puessans ranks above 82% of compared French towns on single residents: 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
Here 38% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
In Puessans, 14% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 80% 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
Graduates of higher education make up 34%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 15th oldest of 41 French towns of 32 to 2,582 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Median age: 2 of the 6 towns around Puessans are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puessans | 48.8 | 29% | 13% | 3.2% |
| Baume-les-Dames 5,155 · 5.7 mi | 48.7 | 29% | 1.4% | 4.2% |
| L'Isle-sur-le-Doubs 2,780 · 12.4 mi | 52.1 | 30% | 2.1% | 3.4% |
| Échenoz-la-Méline 3,158 · 14.7 mi | 47.5 | 24% | 2% | 5.8% |
| Vesoul 15,078 · 15.5 mi | 44.8 | 24% | 3.2% | 14% |
| Thise 2,994 · 15.6 mi | 53.1 | 34% | 0.8% | 3.6% |
| Saône 3,195 · 17.4 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 Puessans
What is the population of Puessans?
32 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% fewer than in 2012 (40).
How old are Puessans’ residents?
The median age is 48.8, older than 78% of compared French towns. 6.5% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Puessans?
4, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Puessans?
INSEE counts 1 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.2% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.