Préfontaines ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 1.3%
The figure for households without a car is 3.4% in Préfontaines and 11% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census Préfontaines was home to 428 people in 180 households. In Préfontaines, 23% of households are one person living alone. Half of the town’s residents are over 49.8, older than in 82% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Loiret 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 Préfontaines
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 31 second homes and occasional dwellings in Préfontaines, 14% of its 230 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 8.6% single parents with children; 15% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Préfontaines had 456 residents at the 2012 census and 428 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 91% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Préfontaines sits above 90% of compared French towns for second homes (14%)
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 in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. The census found that 7.5% of homes stand empty in Préfontaines.
Préfontaines’s population moved −6% on 2012, less than in 91% 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 Loiret town +6%.
Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 84% of compared French towns: 8.8%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Préfontaines 49.8. The median compared French town: 44.
A quarter of Préfontaines’ residents are 65 or older, against 23% in the median Loiret town and 22% in the median compared French town; 19% are under 18. As a yardstick, 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: Loiret 51.7%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of couples with children than 90% of compared French towns: 34%
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 Loiret median and the France median
Living alone · share
Nearly one in ten households are single parents, against 10% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
A typical living standard of €27,420 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €27,420 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 65% of compared French towns.
Below 98% of compared French towns: 2.9% 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
The share of households headed by a manual worker tops 83% of compared French towns: 20%. Across the comparison, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 46% of households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
6.1% of Préfontaines’ 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.
The median compared commune in Loiret has 9.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 54% of compared French towns. About one in 16: that is how common immigrants are in Préfontaines (6.1%). Nothing unusual on foreign nationals: 4.2%, close to the figure 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 smaller share of single residents than 94% of compared French towns: 19%
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
Against a figure of 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Préfontaines comes in at 47%. By way of comparison, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 19%, a lower share than 87% 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
The share of adults with no qualification is 22%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. On average, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 14th oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
No nearby town is as old as Préfontaines
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Préfontaines | 49.8 | 25% | 14% | 6.1% |
| Château-Landon 3,149 · 2.7 mi | 49 | 28% | 6.1% | 9.5% |
| Dordives 3,277 · 4.5 mi | 47.9 | 25% | 8.6% | 10% |
| Ferrières-en-Gâtinais 3,839 · 4.9 mi | 46.1 | 24% | 6.7% | 6.6% |
| Corquilleroy 2,891 · 5.4 mi | 45.2 | 21% | 2% | 11% |
| Souppes-sur-Loing 4,952 · 5.5 mi | 45 | 21% | 2.4% | 15% |
| Châlette-sur-Loing 12,677 · 6.6 mi | 41.7 | 21% | 1.5% | 26% |
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 Préfontaines
What is the population of Préfontaines?
428 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (456).
How old are Préfontaines’ residents?
The median age is 49.8, older than 82% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Préfontaines?
31, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Préfontaines?
INSEE counts 26 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.1% of residents, and 18 foreign nationals (4.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Préfontaines?
€27,420 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.