In Fourneaux, 1.7% of households have no car, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
Against a figure of 32% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person in Fourneaux comes in at 17%. Single-parent households are more common here than in 98% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 131 people lived in the town, in 58 households. The census found that 1.5% of homes are flats here.
Throughout this page, the Manche 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 Fourneaux
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 11 second homes and occasional dwellings in Fourneaux, 16% of its 68 homes: higher than in 91% 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 ↓
Growing fast
Fourneaux had 110 residents at the 2012 census and 131 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.
16% of homes are second homes, more than in 91% 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
Empty homes are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Second homes make up 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 3.4% moved in during the last two years and 14% have stayed three decades or more.
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
In two steps, +33% to 2017 and −10% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% in Manche.
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 80% of compared French towns, at 17%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fourneaux 44. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24; in Fourneaux, 9.1%. On top of that, the median age in the town is 44, lower than in half of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Fewer one-person households than 59% of compared French towns: 33%
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 Manche median and the France median
Living alone · share
On average, 2.3 people share a household. Fourneaux has fewer couples with children than 51% of compared French towns, at 25%. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%.
A median standard of living of €27,980 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.
Half of residents live in households above €27,980 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 71% of compared French towns.
More households headed by a manual worker than 96% of compared French towns: 25%
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
In Fourneaux, 17% of households are headed by a manager or professional, beside 9.4% in the typical compared French town. For households headed by a manual worker, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
6.8% of residents are foreign nationals, a share 69% of compared French towns don’t reach
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 54% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Manche has 2.4%. 6.1% of residents are immigrants, or about one in 16. In the typical compared French town, foreign nationals come to 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 74% of compared French towns: 39% of residents 15 and over are married
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
Single residents: 27% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Fourneaux ranks below 82% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 21%
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 tops nearly three quarters of compared French towns: 24%. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
16th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 131 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).
Of the 6 towns nearest Fourneaux, 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fourneaux | 44 | 17% | 16% | 6.1% |
| Torigny-les-Villes 4,444 · 4.8 mi | 45.4 | 25% | 2.6% | 1.1% |
| Condé-sur-Vire 4,137 · 6 mi | 46.2 | 24% | 2.5% | 1.4% |
| Bourgvallées 3,326 · 6.8 mi | 43.1 | 21% | 3.3% | 2.1% |
| Saint-Amand-Villages 2,525 · 6.9 mi | 45.8 | 21% | 3.1% | 2% |
| Percy-en-Normandie 2,641 · 7.6 mi | 50.5 | 31% | 6.3% | 4.1% |
| Souleuvre en Bocage 8,629 · 8.4 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 5.5% | 1.8% |
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 Fourneaux
What is the population of Fourneaux?
131 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 19% more than in 2012 (110).
How old are Fourneaux’s residents?
The median age is 44, younger than 50% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fourneaux?
11, with occasional dwellings: 16% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fourneaux?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.1% of residents, and 9 foreign nationals (6.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fourneaux?
€27,980 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.