Photo: Wikipedro · CC BY-SA 4.0A median age of 55: Arbois is older than 94% of compared French towns
Half of households are headed by a retired person; in the typical compared French town the figure is 32%. Census day 2023: 3,114 residents and 1,610 households in Arbois. In Arbois, 14% of households are couples with children. Few places have as many households without a car: 18% here, more than in 78% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Jura 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 Arbois
Fewer residents than in 2012
Arbois had 3,537 residents at the 2012 census and 3,114 in 2023, down 12%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Arbois’ residents are under 55 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 35% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
48% of Arbois’ households are one person: higher than in 91% of compared French towns; 36% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 310 homes empty (15%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of −12% since 2012 leaves Arbois behind 98% 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
In two steps, −6% to 2017 and −7% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −4% in Jura.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 35% in Arbois, more than in 93% 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
■ Arbois 55. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 8.1% in Arbois and 11% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Jura 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households: 48%, a higher share than 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 Jura median and the France median
Living alone · share
Arbois sits close to the norm on single-parent households: 9.2%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. The average household has 1.8 people.
Arbois: 15% of homes stand empty, above 95% 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
Without a car: one household in six, against 11% in the median compared French town. Empty homes make up 6.7% in the typical compared French town. 5.9% of households rent social housing (HLM). Compared with other places, second homes are common here: 6.1%, more than in just over four fifths of compared French towns.
€24,960 a year is the median standard of living here
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 Arbois’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,960 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 61% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 14.0% of residents.
Arbois ranks below 59% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 8%
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 census found that 13% of households are headed by a manual worker in Arbois. Households headed by a manager or professional: 9.4% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of immigrants than 62% of compared French towns, at 5.1%
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.
On the census count, 3.7% of residents are foreign nationals. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
37% of residents 15 and over are married, below 82% 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
28% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
25% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 77% 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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Arbois. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
The 3rd oldest of 41 French towns of 3,088 to 3,141 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 35.8 in Vémars to 64.6 in La Tranche-sur-Mer.
Arbois is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arbois | 55 | 35% | 6.1% | 5.1% |
| Poligny 3,976 · 5.7 mi | 46.4 | 28% | 5.2% | 7.6% |
| Champagnole 8,036 · 12.7 mi | 50.7 | 31% | 1.5% | 7.9% |
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 Arbois
What is the population of Arbois?
3,114 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% fewer than in 2012 (3,537).
How old are Arbois’ residents?
The median age is 55, older than 94% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 35% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Arbois?
120, with occasional dwellings: 6.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Arbois?
INSEE counts 160 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.1% of residents, and 120 foreign nationals (3.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Arbois?
€24,960 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 14.0% 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 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.