Half of Fains-Véel is over 54.7, older than 94% of compared French towns
The share of households headed by a manager or professional is 4.9%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Fains-Véel’s 920 households held 2,080 residents at the 2023 Census. In Fains-Véel, 13% of homes are flats. Lower than in just over two thirds of compared French towns: 8.5% of households rent social housing (HLM).
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 Fains-Véel
An older town
Half of Fains-Véel’s residents are under 54.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.1% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Fains-Véel had 2,224 residents at the 2012 census and 2,080 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 92% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Fains-Véel changed by −6% from 2012 to 2023, behind 92% 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 −4%; the six to 2023, −3%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Meuse town −8%.
7.1% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 97% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fains-Véel 54.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 30%, above 86% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 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: Meuse 52.5%, France 51.8%.
7.6% of households are single parents, below 84% 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
The typical household size is 2.1 people. At 22%, the share of couples with children is lower than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. The wider picture: 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. One-person households account for 32%.
Only 8.4% of households have no car in Fains-Véel
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
35% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 6.6% moved in within the last two years. Second homes are rarer here than in 52% of compared French towns. Against that, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town. Nothing unusual on empty homes: 6.9%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
A median of €27,860 a year per consumption unit
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 €27,860 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 69% of compared French towns.
Fains-Véel ranks above 90% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 43%
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
With households headed by a manual worker at 12%, Fains-Véel is behind three fifths of compared French towns on that count. For comparison, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.2% of residents are foreign nationals, fewer than in 91% of compared French towns
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: 2.8%, below 84% of compared French towns. Foreign nationals: 4.3% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 50%, a higher share than 91% 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
22% of residents 15 and over are single (typical compared French town: 25%). Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 71% of compared French towns, at 24%
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
Just over a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 19%. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 2,080 to 2,582 people: this is the 7th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Fains-Véel is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fains-Véel | 54.7 | 30% | 2% | 2.8% |
| Bar-le-Duc 14,607 · 1.9 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 2.5% | 9.4% |
| Ligny-en-Barrois 3,677 · 11.3 mi | 53.6 | 34% | 1.8% | 6.2% |
| Ancerville 2,569 · 11.6 mi | 49.4 | 25% | 1.6% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Dizier 22,858 · 12.6 mi | 43.6 | 23% | 1.9% | 10% |
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 Fains-Véel
What is the population of Fains-Véel?
2,080 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (2,224).
How old are Fains-Véel’s residents?
The median age is 54.7, older than 94% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fains-Véel?
20, with occasional dwellings: 2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fains-Véel?
INSEE counts 59 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.8% of residents, and 25 foreign nationals (1.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fains-Véel?
€27,860 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 8, 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.