Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 5.7% in Fontès, less than in 99% of compared French towns
In Fontès, 4.2% of households are single parents, beside 10% in the typical compared French town. 3.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional, a lower share than in 97% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 1,060 people lived here, in 480 households. Here, 1.3% of households rent social housing (HLM).
Throughout this page, the Hérault 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 Fontès
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 88 second homes and occasional dwellings in Fontès, 14% of its 640 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 93% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Fontès’ residents are under 52.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 74 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Fontès sits above 90% of compared French towns for second homes (14%)
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
One household in 13 has no car (median compared French town: 11%). Few places have so few flats: 10% here, fewer than in 87% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 2.1% of homes are second homes. Empty homes account for 12%.
Fontès’s population changed by +13% since 2012, more than in 76% 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
Older than 90% of compared French towns: half of Fontès is over 52.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fontès 52.5. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 22%; Fontès has 32%.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
More one-person households than 66% of compared French towns: 39%
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 Hérault median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.1 people on average. Compared with other places, couples with children are scarce here: 23%, fewer than in 62% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €23,510 a year in standard of living
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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €23,510 a year: lower than in 77% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a manual worker than 90% of compared French towns: 7.4%
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
The share of households headed by a retired person is 40%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 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).
7% of residents in Fontès 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.
The median compared commune in Hérault has 6.8%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 53% of compared French towns. The census found that 5.2% of residents are foreign nationals in Fontès.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A smaller share of single residents than 92% of compared French towns: 20%
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
45% of residents 15 and over are married (typical compared French town: 43%). The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Fontès ranks below 80% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 22%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%; Fontès has 22%. For comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,060 to 2,582 people: this is the 8th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Of the 6 towns nearest Fontès, 1 are older
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 Fontès
What is the population of Fontès?
1,060 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% more than in 2012 (941).
How old are Fontès’ residents?
The median age is 52.5, older than 90% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fontès?
88, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fontès?
INSEE counts 74 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7% of residents, and 55 foreign nationals (5.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fontès?
€23,510 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.