Lajoux sits above 96% of compared French towns for second homes (39%)
Against a figure of 10% in the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households in Lajoux comes in at 4%. 4.2% of residents are 15 to 24, a lower share than in 99% of compared French towns. The town’s 140 households held 287 residents at the 2023 Census. Across Lajoux, 6.2% of households rent social housing (HLM).
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 Lajoux
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 120 second homes and occasional dwellings in Lajoux, 39% of its 300 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 75% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 41 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Many graduates
47% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 17% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
14% of homes stand empty, a share 93% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, just over a fifth of homes are flats in Lajoux. The benchmark for empty homes in the typical compared French town: 6.7%. Census figures put households without a car at 4.6% locally.
Lajoux grew +13% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 78% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and −4% for the median Jura town, the change came in two steps: +4% from 2012 to 2017, then +10% to 2023.
Lajoux is older than 84% of compared French towns: a median age of 50.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lajoux 50.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 28% here and 22% 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.
In Lajoux, 20% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 74% 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
On average, 2 people share a household. As a yardstick, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. The figure for one-person households is 36% in Lajoux and 35% in the typical compared French town.
€34,180 a year: the median 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.
Living standards centre on €34,180 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 95% of compared French towns.
Lajoux sits above 69% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (36%)
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 manager or professional: 12% here and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Census figures put households headed by a manual worker at 16% in Lajoux. For households headed by a retired person, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 4.2%, a lower share than 72% 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 share of foreign nationals trails 70% of compared French towns: 2.7%. The wider picture: 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.
17% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 99% 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
52% of residents 15 and over are married (typical compared French town: 43%). Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
47% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 90% 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 19% in the typical compared French town, 12% of adults out of school have no qualification in Lajoux. As a reference point, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 14th oldest of 41 French towns of 287 to 2,582 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 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as old as Lajoux
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lajoux | 50.1 | 28% | 39% | 4.2% |
| Gex 13,627 · 4.9 mi | 35 | 10% | 6.2% | 23% |
| Saint-Claude 8,386 · 5.6 mi | 48.5 | 26% | 5.1% | 20% |
| Cessy 5,832 · 6 mi | 36.9 | 10% | 4.4% | 22% |
| Ségny 2,941 · 7.2 mi | 34.8 | 11% | 4.7% | 30% |
| Divonne-les-Bains 10,464 · 7.7 mi | 41 | 17% | 21% | 23% |
| Les Rousses 3,740 · 8.7 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 Lajoux
What is the population of Lajoux?
287 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% more than in 2012 (253).
How old are Lajoux’s residents?
The median age is 50.1, older than 84% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lajoux?
120, with occasional dwellings: 39% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lajoux?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.2% of residents, and 8 foreign nationals (2.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lajoux?
€34,180 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.