Desnes ranks below 93% of compared French towns on flats: 6.5%
Second homes make up 9.5%, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Still, 5% of households have no car, a lower share than in 88% of compared French towns. There were 220 households in Desnes at the 2023 Census, home to 494 residents. Locally, 13% of households are headed by a manager or professional.
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.
Desnes’s population moved +4% on 2012, less than in 53% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved +1%, and from 2017 to 2023 +3%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Jura town −4%.
A median age of 47: Desnes is older than 69% 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
■ Desnes 47. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 10%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Here, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Jura 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Only 33% of households are one person living alone in Desnes
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
Couples with children: 27% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.2 people. On single-parent households, Desnes sits lower than just over two thirds of compared French towns: 8.9%. For comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Below 90% of compared French towns: 4.1% of households rent social housing (HLM)
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
23% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 6.3% moved in within the last two years. In the typical compared French town, the share of households in social housing is 12%. Empty homes are rarer here than in 64% of compared French towns.
A typical living standard of €25,310 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.
At €25,310 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 57% of compared French towns.
In Desnes, 36% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 67% 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
Desnes has fewer households headed by a manual worker than 54% of compared French towns, at 13%. 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).
Immigrants make up 1% in Desnes, less than in 99% 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.
Where 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Desnes has 0.8%. To put it in context, 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.
In Desnes, 22% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%; Desnes has 45%. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Below 81% of compared French towns: 22% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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
The share of adults with no qualification trails 78% of compared French towns: 14%. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 494 to 2,582 people: this is the 15th 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 Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Desnes and its 5 nearest towns: 3 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desnes | 47 | 22% | 9.5% | 1% |
| Montmorot 3,261 · 6.5 mi | 46.9 | 27% | 3.5% | 5.6% |
| Lons-le-Saunier 16,618 · 7.5 mi | 47.2 | 28% | 5.4% | 12% |
| Poligny 3,976 · 12.1 mi | 46.4 | 28% | 5.2% | 7.6% |
| Louhans-Châteaurenaud 6,446 · 14.8 mi | 55.4 | 37% | 2.9% | 6.1% |
| Arbois 3,114 · 17.2 mi | 55 | 35% | 6.1% | 5.1% |
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 Desnes
What is the population of Desnes?
494 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (475).
How old are Desnes’ residents?
The median age is 47, older than 69% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Desnes?
25, with occasional dwellings: 9.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Desnes?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Desnes?
€25,310 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.