Flats make up 4% in Fontanes, less than in 97% of compared French towns
Compared with 6.7% in the typical compared French town, 11% of homes stand empty here. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Fontanes’s population at 547, in 250 households. The census found that 7.6% of residents are 15 to 24 locally.
Throughout this page, the Lot 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 Fontanes
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 37 second homes and occasional dwellings in Fontanes, 12% of its 320 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Fontanes had 460 residents at the 2012 census and 547 in 2023, up 19%: faster growth than in 89% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A higher share of second homes than 89% of compared French towns, at 12%
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 11% in the typical compared French town, 5.6% of households have no car in Fontanes. Second homes make up 2.1% in the typical compared French town.
A +19% change since 2012: faster than 89% 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 first five years brought +3%; the six to 2023, +15%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Lot town −1%.
Older than 65% of compared French towns: half of Fontanes is over 46.3
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fontanes 46.3. The median compared French town: 44.
In Fontanes, 23% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Lot 53.3%, France 51.8%.
A smaller share of single-parent households than 93% of compared French towns: 6.5%
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 Lot median and the France median
Living alone · share
On average, 2.2 people share a household. Few places have as many couples with children: 28% here, more than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. For single-parent households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 10%. Set against 35% in the typical compared French town, 33% of households are one person living alone in Fontanes.
€24,810 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 €24,810 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 63% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a manager or professional than 69% of compared French towns: 13%
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
Nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, against 35% in Fontanes. Households headed by a manager or professional: 9.4% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. On the census count, 17% 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).
A smaller share of foreign nationals than 80% of compared French towns: 2%
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, the share of immigrants is 6.5%; Fontanes has 4.1%. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 73% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Lot has 9.5%. Typically, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
Fontanes sits below 80% of compared French towns for single residents (22%)
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
With married residents at 46%, Fontanes is ahead of 72% of compared French towns on that count. Against that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Fontanes ranks below 65% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 16%
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
32% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). Typically, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 547 to 2,582 people: this is the 18th oldest
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).
A younger town than 3 of the 5 around it: Fontanes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontanes | 46.3 | 23% | 12% | 4.1% |
| Cahors 20,050 · 9.4 mi | 49.5 | 30% | 6.1% | 12% |
| Pradines 3,617 · 11.1 mi | 49.7 | 29% | 2.8% | 9.7% |
| Caussade 6,803 · 11.5 mi | 51.5 | 31% | 3.1% | 8.8% |
| Albias 3,240 · 16.7 mi | 45 | 23% | 1.7% | 5.5% |
| Nègrepelisse 5,917 · 17.4 mi | 44.6 | 24% | 1.5% | 7.3% |
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 Fontanes
What is the population of Fontanes?
547 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 19% more than in 2012 (460).
How old are Fontanes’ residents?
The median age is 46.3, older than 65% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fontanes?
37, with occasional dwellings: 12% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fontanes?
INSEE counts 22 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.1% of residents, and 11 foreign nationals (2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fontanes?
€24,810 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.