A median age of 53.8: La Ferté Macé is older than 92% of compared French towns
Compared with 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 4.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional here. Couples with children are rarer here than in 93% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 5,071 residents and 2,540 households in La Ferté Macé. Locally, a fifth of households rent social housing (HLM).
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 La Ferté Macé
Fewer residents than in 2012
La Ferté Macé had 5,850 residents at the 2012 census and 5,071 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of La Ferté Macé’s residents are under 53.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 580 homes empty (18%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −13% since 2012, behind 99% 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 median Orne town changed −5% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −10% and the next six −3%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 32%, a higher share than 90% 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
■ La Ferté Macé 53.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 52% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over 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: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
More one-person households than 87% of compared French towns: 46%
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
A household here holds 1.9 people on average. As a yardstick, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. At 8.4%, the share of single-parent households is lower than in three quarters of compared French towns.
18% of homes stand empty, a share 98% 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
Where just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town, La Ferté Macé has 20%. Across the comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 13% moved in during the last two years and 24% have stayed three decades or more. Few places have as many flats: 34% here, more than in 56% of compared French towns.
Standard of living at the median: €22,570 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.
Living standards centre on €22,570 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 85% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 21.0% of residents.
44% of households are headed by a retired person, 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 the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker; in La Ferté Macé, 19%. Set beside that, 32% 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).
6.1% of La Ferté Macé’s residents 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.
On the census count, 4.6% of residents are foreign nationals. Lower than in 54% of compared French towns: 6.1% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In La Ferté Macé, 29% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 74% 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
Married residents: 41% here and 43% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
La Ferté Macé: 33% of adults out of school have no qualification, above 96% 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
Graduates of higher education: 17% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
41 French towns of 5,022 to 5,122 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.
Bezannes is the youngest (31.7); Saint-Georges-de-Didonne the oldest (67.3).
Nearby, 4 of 6 towns have older populations than La Ferté Macé
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Ferté Macé | 53.8 | 32% | 3.2% | 6.1% |
| Bagnoles de l'Orne Normandie 2,699 · 3.7 mi | 61.9 | 45% | 54% | 7.1% |
| Rives d'Andaine 2,844 · 6 mi | 54.6 | 31% | 10% | 3.4% |
| Domfront en Poiraie 4,113 · 13 mi | 57.7 | 36% | 6% | 4.6% |
| Flers 14,432 · 14.1 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 2.4% | 13% |
| Saint-Georges-des-Groseillers 3,173 · 15.3 mi | 55.2 | 34% | 1.8% | 3.9% |
| Athis-Val de Rouvre 4,201 · 15.4 mi | 49 | 27% | 9.4% | 1.9% |
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 La Ferté Macé
What is the population of La Ferté Macé?
5,071 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (5,850).
How old are La Ferté Macé’s residents?
The median age is 53.8, older than 92% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Ferté Macé?
100, with occasional dwellings: 3.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Ferté Macé?
INSEE counts 310 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.1% of residents, and 230 foreign nationals (4.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Ferté Macé?
€22,570 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.