A lower share of households without a car than 97% of compared French towns, at 3.5%
In the typical compared French town, the share of flats is 30%; Fossé has 5.8%. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 1,254, in 520 households. One-person households account for 26%. Few places have so few empty homes: 3.2% here, fewer than in 95% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Loir-et-Cher 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.
Fossé changed by −3% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 81% 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 Loir-et-Cher town −3%. The change was +1% from 2012 to 2017 and −4% from 2017 to 2023.
Older than 58% of compared French towns: half of Fossé is over 45.3
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fossé 45.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 10% in Fossé. Residents aged 65 and over: 23% here and 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Loir-et-Cher 52.4%, France 51.8%.
32% of households are couples with children, a share 83% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 Loir-et-Cher median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2.4 people. Measured more widely, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few single-parent households: 7.7% here, fewer than in 83% of compared French towns.
A lower share of second homes than 83% of compared French towns, at 0.9%
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
Households that moved in under two years ago: 4.8%. Those in their home 30 years or more: 28%. For comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Against a figure of 12% in the typical compared French town, the share of households in social housing in Fossé comes in at 13%.
Standard of living at the median: €27,220 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 €27,220 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 63% of compared French towns.
Above 76% of compared French towns: 38% of households are headed by a retired person
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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 7.7% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Fossé. The benchmark for households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town: 32%. In Fossé, 13% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
7.2% of Fossé’s residents are immigrants
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.
That is higher than in 55% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Loir-et-Cher has 6%. About one in 14: that is how common immigrants are in Fossé (7.2%). On foreign nationals, 4.2% here is much the same as 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.
More married residents than 98% of compared French towns: 54%
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
A fifth of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Only 16% of adults out of school have no qualification in Fossé
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
For Fossé, the census puts graduates of higher education at 30%. Across the comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
21st highest median age among 41 French towns of 1,254 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Median age: 4 of the 6 towns around Fossé 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fossé | 45.3 | 23% | 0.9% | 7.2% |
| Villebarou 2,584 · 2 mi | 44.6 | 20% | 1.3% | 9.3% |
| Blois 47,219 · 3.5 mi | 39 | 20% | 4.3% | 19% |
| La Chaussée-Saint-Victor 4,471 · 3.8 mi | 49.9 | 29% | 1.7% | 6.3% |
| Vineuil 8,064 · 5.8 mi | 47.9 | 27% | 1.1% | 6.1% |
| Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt 3,180 · 5.8 mi | 51.8 | 30% | 1% | 5.2% |
| Chailles 2,726 · 7.2 mi | 48.8 | 25% | 2.3% | 4.3% |
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 Fossé
What is the population of Fossé?
1,254 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (1,290).
How old are Fossé’s residents?
The median age is 45.3, older than 58% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fossé?
5, with occasional dwellings: 0.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fossé?
INSEE counts 90 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.2% of residents, and 53 foreign nationals (4.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fossé?
€27,220 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.