A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 98% of compared French towns: 6.6%
By its share of one-person households (25%), Lignou is below 94% of compared French towns. The town had 136 residents in 61 households at the 2023 Census. Across Lignou, just over two in five households are headed by a retired person. Households without a car are rarer here than in 99% 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 Lignou
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 10 second homes and occasional dwellings in Lignou, 12% of its 85 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 14 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Lignou’s residents are under 51.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 28% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.4% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Lignou: 16% of homes stand empty, above 97% 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
12% of homes are second homes, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Against that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
Lignou’s population moved +1% on 2012, less than in 67% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −5% in Orne. Here the change came as +11% to 2017, then −9% to 2023.
Older than 88% of compared French towns: half of Lignou is over 51.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lignou 51.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 28% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 22%.
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 79 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
61 households; 25% are one person
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. On average, 2.2 people share a household.
€24,780 a year is the median standard of living here
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 €24,780 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 63% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker make up 33% in Lignou, more than in 99% 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
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 76% of compared French towns: 3.7%
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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 2.2% of residents are foreign nationals in Lignou. Typically, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
22% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 82% 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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 46% in Lignou. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Below 86% of compared French towns: 20% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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
The share of adults with no qualification tops 72% of compared French towns: 24%. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 10th oldest of 41 French towns of 136 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 4 are older than Lignou
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lignou | 51.5 | 28% | 12% | 3.7% |
| La Ferté Macé 5,071 · 5.6 mi | 53.8 | 32% | 3.2% | 6.1% |
| Bagnoles de l'Orne Normandie 2,699 · 8.7 mi | 61.9 | 45% | 54% | 7.1% |
| Athis-Val de Rouvre 4,201 · 10.6 mi | 49 | 27% | 9.4% | 1.9% |
| Rives d'Andaine 2,844 · 11 mi | 54.6 | 31% | 10% | 3.4% |
| Flers 14,432 · 11.1 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 2.4% | 13% |
| Saint-Georges-des-Groseillers 3,173 · 12 mi | 55.2 | 34% | 1.8% | 3.9% |
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 Lignou
What is the population of Lignou?
136 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (135).
How old are Lignou’s residents?
The median age is 51.5, older than 88% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lignou?
10, with occasional dwellings: 12% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lignou?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.7% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (2.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lignou?
€24,780 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.