3.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns
29% of households are one person living alone; in the typical compared French town the figure is 35%. Put another way, about one in 12: nearly one in ten homes are flats. Cousances-les-Forges has fewer households in social housing than 87% of compared French towns, at 4.8%. At the 2023 Census Cousances-les-Forges was home to 1,621 people in 740 households.
Throughout this page, the Meuse 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 Cousances-les-Forges
Fewer residents than in 2012
Cousances-les-Forges had 1,707 residents at the 2012 census and 1,621 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−5% since 2012, a pace below 88% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −1%, then −4% to 2023. Over those years, the median Meuse town changed −8% and the median compared French town +5%.
A lower share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 73% of compared French towns, at 9.5%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Cousances-les-Forges 44.7. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over; in Cousances-les-Forges, 23%. Against that, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. With a median age of 44.7, Cousances-les-Forges is older than 55% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Meuse 52.5%, France 51.8%.
Cousances-les-Forges: 12% of households are single parents, above 72% 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 Meuse median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 2.2 people on average. For single-parent households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 10%. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%; Cousances-les-Forges has 26%.
Households without a car: 7.7%, a lower share than 68% 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
The share of empty homes is 8.4%, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 11% of households have no car. Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 7.1% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 31%.
A median standard of living of €24,830 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 €24,830 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 62% of compared French towns.
In Cousances-les-Forges, 22% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 91% of compared French towns
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 Cousances-les-Forges, 30% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town: 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Cousances-les-Forges sits below 86% of compared French towns for immigrants (2.6%)
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 figure for foreign nationals is 1.6% in Cousances-les-Forges and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. The median compared commune in Meuse has 7.3%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 86% of compared French towns.
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 66% of compared French towns: 23%
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
Across Cousances-les-Forges, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Below 80% of compared French towns: 22% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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
Set against 19% in the typical compared French town, 22% of adults out of school have no qualification in Cousances-les-Forges. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 18th youngest of 41 French towns of 1,621 to 2,582 people
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).
Cousances-les-Forges and its 6 nearest towns: 5 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cousances-les-Forges | 44.7 | 23% | 2.3% | 2.6% |
| Ancerville 2,569 · 3 mi | 49.4 | 25% | 1.6% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Dizier 22,858 · 5.8 mi | 43.6 | 23% | 1.9% | 10% |
| Wassy 2,771 · 10 mi | 48.7 | 27% | 1.9% | 2.8% |
| Bar-le-Duc 14,607 · 11.6 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.5% | 9.4% |
| Ligny-en-Barrois 3,677 · 12.2 mi | 53.6 | 34% | 1.8% | 6.2% |
| Joinville 2,915 · 12.2 mi | 52.2 | 32% | 3.2% | 8.1% |
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 Cousances-les-Forges
What is the population of Cousances-les-Forges?
1,621 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (1,707).
How old are Cousances-les-Forges’ residents?
The median age is 44.7, older than 55% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Cousances-les-Forges?
19, with occasional dwellings: 2.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Cousances-les-Forges?
INSEE counts 41 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.6% of residents, and 26 foreign nationals (1.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Cousances-les-Forges?
€24,830 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 9, 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.