A median age of 57.5: Fay is older than 97% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Fay had 69 residents in 34 households at the 2023 Census. Flats make up about one in 63 here (1.6%). By its share of couples with children (14%), Fay is below 93% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Orne 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 Fay
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 26 second homes and occasional dwellings in Fay, 41% of its 64 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 96% 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 Fay’s residents are under 57.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 26% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 1.4% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
41% of homes are second homes, a share 96% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Car-free households: one in 17, where the median compared French town has 11%. In the typical compared French town, the share of second homes is 2.1%. For Fay, the census puts households without a car at 5.9%. Lower than in 53% of compared French towns: 6.5% of homes stand empty.
From 2012 to 2023, Fay outgrew 68% of compared French towns: +10%
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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Orne town −5%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought +13%; 2017 to 2023, −3%.
A lower share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 86% of compared French towns, at 8.7%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fay 57.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town. On average, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
43% women, 57% men
About 77 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
Fay ranks above 79% of compared French towns on one-person households: 43%
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 Orne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. On average, 2 people share a household.
In Fay, 14% of households are headed by a manager or professional, more than in 74% 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
Against a figure of 32% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person in Fay comes in at 29%. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a manager or professional come to 9.4%. On households headed by a manual worker, Fay sits higher than 53% of compared French towns: 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Fay, 4.3% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 70% 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.
2.9% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 57%, a higher share than 99% 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
Single residents: 20% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
27% of adults out of school have no qualification, a share 85% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education is 30%; Fay has 27%. The wider picture: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 69 to 2,582 people, the 5th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Every neighbor is younger than Fay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fay | 57.5 | 26% | 41% | 4.3% |
| Sées 4,168 · 11.3 mi | 51.8 | 33% | 2.9% | 1.9% |
| Tourouvre au Perche 2,955 · 11.6 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 21% | 2.6% |
| Mortagne-au-Perche 3,898 · 11.7 mi | 50 | 32% | 5.9% | 5.1% |
| L'Aigle 7,663 · 12.2 mi | 47.4 | 28% | 2.7% | 11% |
| La Ferté-en-Ouche 2,938 · 13.9 mi | 49.4 | 27% | 17% | 3% |
| Gouffern en Auge 3,636 · 16.1 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 11% | 3.1% |
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 Fay
What is the population of Fay?
69 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% more than in 2012 (63).
How old are Fay’s residents?
The median age is 57.5, older than 97% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fay?
26, with occasional dwellings: 41% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fay?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.3% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (2.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.