Households in social housing make up 35% in Fismes, more than in 96% of compared French towns
Households headed by a manager or professional: 4.9%, below 86% of compared French towns. Compared with other places, households without a car are common here: 15%, more than in 68% of compared French towns. Fismes had 5,850 residents in 2,540 households at the 2023 census. On the census count, 27% of homes are flats.
Throughout this page, the Marne 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 Fismes
Social housing
35% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 16% rent privately and 47% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Fismes grew +8% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 64% 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, +1% to 2017 and +7% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −2% in Marne.
Above 78% of compared French towns: 12% of residents are 15 to 24
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fismes 43.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Fismes’s residents are under 43.6, younger than in 53% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 23%.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Marne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
11% of households are single parents, more than in 68% 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 Marne median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.2 people. A quarter of households are couples with children, fewer than in 52% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Fismes sits close to the norm on one-person households: 35%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
72% of homes are houses
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: 1.5%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town. Recent arrivals (under two years) make up just over one in ten households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 20%. Compared with other places, empty homes are common here: 7.6%, more than in 59% of compared French towns.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €22,820 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 €22,820 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 83% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 17.0% of residents.
A higher share of households headed by a manual worker than 91% of compared French towns, at 23%
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
Put another way, about one in three: 33% of households are headed by a retired person. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 81% of compared French towns: 3.1%
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.
Foreign nationals make up 1.9%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 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 lower share of married residents than 80% of compared French towns, at 38%
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
Census figures put single residents at 25% in Fismes. By way of comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Fismes sits above 93% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (31%)
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
Here a fifth of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. Against that, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
15th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 5,810 to 5,890
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 36.9 in Villabé to 57.4 in Montmorillon.
Older than Fismes: 3 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fismes | 43.6 | 23% | 1.5% | 3.1% |
| Fère-en-Tardenois 2,836 · 10.8 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 1.9% | 3.3% |
| Saint-Brice-Courcelles 3,566 · 14.1 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 0.6% | 3.9% |
| Tinqueux 10,771 · 14.6 mi | 44.4 | 24% | 0.8% | 6.1% |
| Bezannes 5,039 · 15.4 mi | 31.7 | 15% | 2.6% | 7% |
| Villeneuve-Saint-Germain 2,616 · 15.6 mi | 42.3 | 21% | 1.3% | 12% |
| Villeneuve-sur-Aisne 2,792 · 15.9 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 1.3% | 2.4% |
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 Fismes
What is the population of Fismes?
5,850 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% more than in 2012 (5,413).
How old are Fismes’ residents?
The median age is 43.6, younger than 53% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fismes?
43, with occasional dwellings: 1.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fismes?
INSEE counts 180 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.1% of residents, and 110 foreign nationals (1.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fismes?
€22,820 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 17.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.