Above 86% of compared French towns: 8.5% of homes are second homes
The share of households without a car trails 73% of compared French towns: 7.1%. Across Pierrefonds, 7.2% of households are single parents. At 7.9%, the share of households headed by a manual worker is lower than in 88% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 1,877 residents in 760 households.
Throughout this page, the Oise 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.
Since 2012, Pierrefonds has changed by ±0%, slower than 69% 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, −4% to 2017 and +4% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +2% in Oise.
Pierrefonds is older than 73% of compared French towns: a median age of 47.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Pierrefonds 47.8. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 65 and over at 24%, Pierrefonds is ahead of 59% of compared French towns on that count.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Oise 51.7%, France 51.8%.
23% of households are couples with children, below 60% 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 Oise median and the France median
Living alone · share
One-person households make up 33%, against 35% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, couples with children come to 25%. The average household has 2.1 people.
A lower share of households in social housing than 80% of compared French towns, at 6.3%
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 typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%; Pierrefonds has 9%. As a yardstick, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. The share of flats stands at 18%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €29,320 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 Pierrefonds’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €29,320 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 81% of compared French towns.
19% of households are headed by a manager or professional, a share 86% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Where 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, Pierrefonds has 34%. For comparison, 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).
6% of residents in Pierrefonds 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.
The median compared commune in Oise has 7.4%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 54% of compared French towns. Locally, 4.9% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A higher share of single residents than 63% of compared French towns, at 27%
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
Locally, 44% of residents 15 and over are married. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Pierrefonds: 41% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, above 82% 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
By its share of adults with no qualification (17%), Pierrefonds is below nearly three fifths of compared French towns. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
15th highest median age among 41 French towns of 1,877 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).
Every neighbor is younger than Pierrefonds
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pierrefonds | 47.8 | 24% | 8.5% | 6% |
| Choisy-au-Bac 3,449 · 7.7 mi | 44.9 | 25% | 2.3% | 6.6% |
| Compiègne 40,761 · 8.3 mi | 37.6 | 19% | 2.2% | 17% |
| Béthisy-Saint-Pierre 3,111 · 8.4 mi | 41 | 19% | 1.1% | 3.5% |
| Villers-Cotterêts 10,489 · 8.4 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 1.3% | 12% |
| Lacroix-Saint-Ouen 5,415 · 8.6 mi | 41.8 | 20% | 1.4% | 6.5% |
| Margny-lès-Compiègne 8,677 · 8.9 mi | 37.8 | 16% | 2% | 14% |
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 Pierrefonds
What is the population of Pierrefonds?
1,877 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (1,874).
How old are Pierrefonds’ residents?
The median age is 47.8, older than 73% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pierrefonds?
78, with occasional dwellings: 8.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pierrefonds?
INSEE counts 110 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6% of residents, and 92 foreign nationals (4.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pierrefonds?
€29,320 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 October 30, 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.