Above 98% of compared French towns: 39% of households are couples with children
18% of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census, 702 people lived in Ruffigné, in 290 households. Across Ruffigné, 0.5% of homes are flats. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 86% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Loire-Atlantique 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 Ruffigné
A town of families
39% of households are couples with children and 3.3% single parents with children; 19% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 63 homes empty (17%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 76% of compared French towns: Ruffigné changed by −1% since 2012
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
Over those years, the median Loire-Atlantique town changed +14% and the median compared French town +5%.
Half of Ruffigné is under 43.2, younger than 57% 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
■ Ruffigné 43.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire-Atlantique 51.0%, France 51.8%.
3.3% of households are single parents, below 99% 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 Loire-Atlantique median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 2.4 people each. 31% of households are one person living alone, a lower share than in 72% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of empty homes than 98% of compared French towns: 17%
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
Second homes: 3.6% here and 2.1% in the typical compared French town. About one in 12: that is how common households without a car are in Ruffigné (8.2%). The wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €23,410 a year in 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €23,410 a year: lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
Only 5.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Ruffigné
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
17% of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%. Households headed by a retired person account for 35%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of immigrants than 85% of compared French towns, at 2.7%
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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Ruffigné, 2%. The median compared commune in Loire-Atlantique has 2.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 85% of compared French towns. Typically, 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.
A larger share of single residents than 73% of compared French towns: 29%
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
On the census count, just over two in five residents 15 and over are married. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Below 94% of compared French towns: 17% 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 is 26%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (702 to 2,582 people), the 12th youngest
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.
3 of 6 neighbors are older than Ruffigné
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruffigné | 43.2 | 18% | 3.6% | 2.7% |
| Châteaubriant 12,260 · 6.3 mi | 46.8 | 26% | 2.1% | 9.5% |
| Martigné-Ferchaud 2,688 · 9.6 mi | 44.9 | 26% | 6.5% | 4.8% |
| Erbray 3,072 · 9.8 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 1.2% | 3% |
| Derval 3,601 · 10.4 mi | 41.6 | 20% | 2.2% | 2% |
| Bain-de-Bretagne 7,674 · 10.4 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 2.9% | 2.1% |
| Grand-Fougeray 2,584 · 10.9 mi | 42.4 | 21% | 3.4% | 4% |
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 Ruffigné
What is the population of Ruffigné?
702 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% fewer than in 2012 (712).
How old are Ruffigné’s residents?
The median age is 43.2, younger than 57% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ruffigné?
13, with occasional dwellings: 3.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ruffigné?
INSEE counts 19 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.7% of residents, and 14 foreign nationals (2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ruffigné?
€23,410 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.