Photo: CORLIN · CC BY-SA 3.0Fontaine ranks above 96% of compared French towns on flats: 83%
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, nearly a quarter of households have no car here. 22,020 residents in 10,710 households: that is Fontaine at the 2023 Census. Across Fontaine, 44% of households are one person living alone. Few places have as many households headed by a manager or professional: 14% here, more than in 74% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Isère 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 Fontaine
Immigrants
INSEE counts 4,700 immigrants in Fontaine (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 22% of residents, against 8% for the median compared commune in Isère. 16% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A ±0% change since 2012: slower than 70% 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
The median Isère town changed +7% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +2% and the next six −2%.
Fontaine: 13% of residents are 15 to 24, above 86% 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
■ Fontaine 42.2. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 42.2, Fontaine is younger than 64% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. The census found that 21% of residents are 65 or over here.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Isère 51.3%, France 51.8%.
Below 70% of compared French towns: 21% of households are couples with children
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 Isère median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2.1 people. Couples with children: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. At 9.6%, single-parent households sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of households in social housing than 72% of compared French towns, at 18%
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
With second homes at 1%, Fontaine is behind just over four fifths of compared French towns on that count. To put it in context, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. Locally, 8.4% of homes stand empty.
Half above, half below €23,220 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.
Half of residents live in households above €23,220 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 80% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 21.2% of residents.
31% of households are headed by a retired person, below 58% 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
The share of households headed by a manual worker stands at 15%. 14% of Fontaine’s households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 31% by a retired person (32%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Fontaine, 22% of residents are immigrants, more than in 94% 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.
The figure for foreign nationals is 16% in Fontaine and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 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.
Fontaine ranks above 77% of compared French towns on single residents: 30%
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
Nearly two in five residents 15 and over are married (typical compared French town: 43%). For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
More adults with no qualification than 79% of compared French towns: 25%
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
32% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, against 30% in the typical compared French town. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
41 French towns of 21,268 to 22,718 people: this is the 18th 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 Loos (33), the youngest, and Gujan-Mestras (52.5), the oldest.
A younger town than 3 of the 6 around it: Fontaine
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontaine | 42.2 | 21% | 1% | 22% |
| Seyssinet-Pariset 11,739 · 1.1 mi | 44.9 | 25% | 1.5% | 11% |
| Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux 6,078 · 1.5 mi | 37.2 | 17% | 1.6% | 19% |
| Sassenage 11,646 · 1.7 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 1.9% | 9.6% |
| Grenoble 156,140 · 2 mi | 32.5 | 15% | 4.2% | 20% |
| Seyssins 8,092 · 2.3 mi | 46.3 | 26% | 1.3% | 7.5% |
| Saint-Égrève 17,986 · 2.7 mi | 42 | 21% | 1% | 10% |
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 Fontaine
What is the population of Fontaine?
22,020 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (22,050).
How old are Fontaine’s residents?
The median age is 42.2, younger than 64% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fontaine?
120, with occasional dwellings: 1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fontaine?
INSEE counts 4,740 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 22% of residents, and 3,430 foreign nationals (16%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fontaine?
€23,220 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.2% 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 9, 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.