More second homes than 92% of compared French towns: 17%
Half of Lect’s residents are over 49.7, older than in just over four fifths of compared French towns. The town is home to 319 residents in 150 households, by the 2023 Census. Put another way, about one in three: 33% of households are couples with children. The figure for households in social housing is 3.4% in Lect and 12% in the typical compared French town.
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 Lect
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 36 second homes and occasional dwellings in Lect, 17% of its 210 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 92% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Lect had 365 residents at the 2012 census and 319 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 100 immigrants in Lect (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 18% of residents, against 7.6% for the median compared commune in Jura. 15% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Empty homes
The census found 26 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.
In Lect, 12% of homes stand empty, more than in 89% 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
9.1% of households arrived within the last two years, while 15% have stayed 30 years or more. Lect has fewer households without a car than 88% of compared French towns, at 5%. Empty homes make up 6.7% in the typical compared French town. With flats at 19%, Lect is behind 69% of compared French towns on that count.
Lect changed by −13% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 99% 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 change was −3%; from 2017 to 2023, −10%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Jura town −4%.
More residents aged 15 to 24 than 88% of compared French towns: 13%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lect 49.7. The median compared French town: 44.
21% of residents are 65 or over. Typically, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Jura 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Lect ranks below 99% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 3.2%
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
The typical household size is 2.1 people. For Lect, the census puts one-person households at 35%. In the typical compared French town, one in ten households are single parents.
Median living standard: €23,840 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 €23,840 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 73% of compared French towns.
In Lect, 37% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 73% 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
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Lect has 16%. Households headed by a manager or professional are more common here than in 56% of compared French towns. Across the 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: 18%, a higher share than 91% 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 tops 92% of compared French towns: 15%. By way of comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Jura has 7.6%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 91% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 41% in Lect, less than in 64% 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
Here, 25% of residents 15 and over are single. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Lect: 32% of adults out of school have no qualification, above 94% 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
By its share of graduates of higher education (18%), Lect is below 91% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
14th highest median age among 41 French towns of 319 to 2,582
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).
Lect 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lect | 49.7 | 21% | 17% | 18% |
| Arbent 3,555 · 7.3 mi | 44.1 | 22% | 1% | 24% |
| Saint-Claude 8,386 · 8.9 mi | 48.5 | 26% | 5.1% | 20% |
| Oyonnax 22,480 · 9.1 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 2.1% | 33% |
| Bellignat 3,525 · 9.9 mi | 40.8 | 21% | 1.7% | 26% |
| Montréal-la-Cluse 3,568 · 15.1 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 2.2% | 23% |
| Nantua 3,416 · 16.7 mi | 42.3 | 23% | 3.6% | 27% |
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 Lect
What is the population of Lect?
319 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (365).
How old are Lect’s residents?
The median age is 49.7, older than 82% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lect?
36, with occasional dwellings: 17% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lect?
INSEE counts 58 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 18% of residents, and 48 foreign nationals (15%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lect?
€23,840 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.