Couples with children: 10%, a lower share than 99% of compared French towns
Where 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Foncine-le-Bas has 5.4%. This Jura town is home to 203 residents in 100 households, by the 2023 Census. Households headed by a retired person: 55% of the total. Compared with other places, households without a car are scarce here: 5.9%, fewer than in just over four fifths 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 Foncine-le-Bas
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 76 second homes and occasional dwellings in Foncine-le-Bas, 37% of its 200 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 63% 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 Foncine-le-Bas’ residents are under 54.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 6.9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 25 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.
37% of homes are second homes, more than in 96% 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
3.9% of households rent social housing (HLM), against 12% in the typical compared French town. Long tenure is the mark of 23% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 6.9% (under two years). Empty homes are more common here than in 90% of compared French towns. Second homes: 2.1% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Since 2012, Foncine-le-Bas has changed by +3%, slower than 57% 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 compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Jura town −4%.
Half of Foncine-le-Bas is over 54.3, older than 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
■ Foncine-le-Bas 54.3. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 34%, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
Above 95% of compared French towns: 15% of households are single parents
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
Households here average 2 people each. Measured more widely, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. One-person households are about as common here as in the typical compared French town: 35%.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €29,070 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.
Living standards centre on €29,070 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 79% of compared French towns.
Below 85% of compared French towns: 5% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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 make up about one in seven here (15%). In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 99% of compared French towns: 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.
2% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% 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.
47% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 78% 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
Put another way, about one in four: 25% of residents 15 and over are single. In the median compared French town 43% are married and 6.1% in a PACS; here it is 47% and 2.3%, and 9.5% are widowed.
In Foncine-le-Bas, 17% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 63% 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
On the census count, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. To put it in context, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 203 to 2,582 people: this is the 7th 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).
No nearby town is as old as Foncine-le-Bas
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foncine-le-Bas | 54.3 | 34% | 37% | 1% |
| Hauts de Bienne 5,032 · 8 mi | 39.5 | 17% | 6.8% | 20% |
| Champagnole 8,036 · 9.6 mi | 50.7 | 31% | 1.5% | 7.9% |
| Les Rousses 3,740 · 10.5 mi | 38.8 | 14% | 48% | 7.6% |
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 Foncine-le-Bas
What is the population of Foncine-le-Bas?
203 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (197).
How old are Foncine-le-Bas’ residents?
The median age is 54.3, older than 93% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Foncine-le-Bas?
76, with occasional dwellings: 37% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Foncine-le-Bas?
INSEE counts 2 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Foncine-le-Bas?
€29,070 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 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.