Older than 90% of compared French towns: half of Fénétrange is over 52.7
Second homes: 8.3% here and 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Census day 2023: 639 residents and 290 households in Fénétrange. In Fénétrange, just over a fifth of households are headed by a manual worker. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Moselle 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 Fénétrange
Fewer residents than in 2012
Fénétrange had 722 residents at the 2012 census and 639 in 2023, down 11%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 73 homes empty (18%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Fénétrange’s residents are under 52.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 98% of compared French towns grew faster than Fénétrange: −11%
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 Moselle town −1%. The first five years brought ±0%; the six to 2023, −12%.
Fénétrange sits below 93% of compared French towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (8%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fénétrange 52.7. The median compared French town: 44.
31% of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fénétrange ranks below 77% of compared French towns on couples with children: 19%
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 Moselle median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2 people in the average household. Typically, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. 12% of households are single parents, more than in 75% of compared French towns. The share of one-person households is 42%, against 35% in the typical compared French town.
Fénétrange: 18% of homes stand empty, above 99% 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
11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town, against 15% in Fénétrange. To put it in context, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. In Fénétrange, nearly a third of homes are flats.
Median living standard: €25,620 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 €25,620 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 53% of compared French towns.
Fénétrange sits below 85% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (5.1%)
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
On households headed by a retired person, Fénétrange sits higher than 52% of compared French towns: 33%. The wider picture: nearly one in ten 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).
Immigrants make up 2.5% in Fénétrange, less than in 87% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Fénétrange comes in at 2.3%. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% 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.
24% of residents 15 and over are single, below 60% 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
For Fénétrange, the census puts married residents at 44%. Set beside that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
30% of adults out of school have no qualification, a share 92% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Graduates of higher education: 23% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 8th oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Fénétrange 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fénétrange | 52.7 | 31% | 8.3% | 2.5% |
| Sarre-Union 2,731 · 7.1 mi | 48.8 | 28% | 1.8% | 10% |
| Sarrebourg 12,170 · 7.8 mi | 41.8 | 23% | 3.3% | 11% |
| Sarralbe 4,364 · 10.2 mi | 44.5 | 22% | 1.4% | 6% |
| Phalsbourg 4,688 · 12.4 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 2.6% | 9.5% |
| Dieuze 2,770 · 13.9 mi | 51.9 | 30% | 1.1% | 3.5% |
| Puttelange-aux-Lacs 3,016 · 14.9 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 8.1% | 15% |
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 Fénétrange
What is the population of Fénétrange?
639 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% fewer than in 2012 (722).
How old are Fénétrange’s residents?
The median age is 52.7, older than 90% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fénétrange?
33, with occasional dwellings: 8.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fénétrange?
INSEE counts 16 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.5% of residents, and 15 foreign nationals (2.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fénétrange?
€25,620 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.