Older than 99% of compared French towns: half of Pontmain is over 62.2
Here 64% of households are headed by a retired person, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 32%. Compared with other places, flats are scarce here: 8.3%, fewer than in 90% of compared French towns. Pontmain counted 809 residents and 360 households at the 2023 Census. 4.2% of households are single parents.
Throughout this page, the Mayenne 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 Pontmain
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 48 second homes and occasional dwellings in Pontmain, 11% of its 420 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 92% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Pontmain’s residents are under 62.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 45% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 20% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Pontmain had 881 residents at the 2012 census and 809 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Pontmain ranks above 89% of compared French towns on second homes: 11%
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
In the last two years, one in ten households moved in; at the other end, 22% have stayed 30 years or more. At 3.8%, the share of empty homes is lower than in 90% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Here 17% of households have no car, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%.
Pontmain changed by −8% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 95% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Mayenne town ±0%. The first five years brought −6%; the six to 2023, −2%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 99% of compared French towns: 45%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Pontmain 62.2. The median compared French town: 44.
7.4% of residents are 15 to 24, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Mayenne 52.1%, France 51.8%.
In Pontmain, 15% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 90% 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 Mayenne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Here 44% of households are one person living alone, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 35%. The usual figure: a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. On average, 1.9 people share a household.
Half above, half below €23,480 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €23,480 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 77% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 99% of compared French towns: 1.4%
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
Higher than in 50% of compared French towns: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker. The usual figure: 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
5.7% of residents in Pontmain 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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 57% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Mayenne has 3.1%. About one in 18: that is how common immigrants are in Pontmain (5.7%). Foreign nationals are about as common here as in the typical compared French town: 4%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Pontmain, 27% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 64% of compared French towns
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
The share of married residents stands at 44%. The wider picture: 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 12%, a lower share than 99% 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
Where 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Pontmain has 45%. For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
2nd highest median age among 41 French towns of 809 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).
No nearby town is as old as Pontmain
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontmain | 62.2 | 45% | 11% | 5.7% |
| Louvigné-du-Désert 3,346 · 4.2 mi | 52.7 | 33% | 3.9% | 3.6% |
| Fougères 20,307 · 8.5 mi | 46.6 | 27% | 2% | 6.3% |
| Lécousse 3,530 · 8.8 mi | 50.9 | 28% | 1.1% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët 5,770 · 9.4 mi | 56.7 | 37% | 6.1% | 2.7% |
| Grandparigny 2,605 · 10.8 mi | 54.9 | 32% | 5.1% | 2.5% |
| Ernée 5,499 · 11.4 mi | 50.2 | 31% | 2.6% | 2.3% |
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 Pontmain
What is the population of Pontmain?
809 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (881).
How old are Pontmain’s residents?
The median age is 62.2, older than 99% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 45% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pontmain?
48, with occasional dwellings: 11% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pontmain?
INSEE counts 46 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.7% of residents, and 32 foreign nationals (4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pontmain?
€23,480 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.