Below 98% of compared French towns: 3.1% of homes are flats
A quarter of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. Saint-Bômer-les-Forges’s 450 households held 1,023 residents at the 2023 Census. Census figures put couples with children at 31% locally. More second homes than in 85% of compared French towns: 8.1%.
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 Saint-Bômer-les-Forges
Empty homes
The census found 79 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A −2% change since 2012: slower than 77% 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 ±0% to 2017, then −2% to 2023.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 60% of compared French towns: 24%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Bômer-les-Forges 44.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Saint-Bômer-les-Forges’s residents are over 44.8, older than in 55% of compared French towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 make up about one in nine here (11%). In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
2.2% of households are single parents, fewer than in 99% 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 Orne median and the France median
Living alone · share
On average, 2.3 people share a household. The benchmark for single-parent households in the typical compared French town: 10%. Fewer one-person households than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns: 32%.
14% of homes stand empty, more than in 93% 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
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 5.6% of households have no car here. Set beside that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 5.4% of households rent social housing (HLM).
€24,470 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.
The median standard of living in Saint-Bômer-les-Forges is €24,470 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 66% of compared French towns.
38% of households are headed by a retired person, a share 77% 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 nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, Saint-Bômer-les-Forges has 7.6%. In the typical compared French town, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 2% of residents are immigrants in Saint-Bômer-les-Forges
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 Saint-Bômer-les-Forges comes in at 1.3%. The median compared commune in Orne has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 91% of compared French towns. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
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, below 78% 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
46% of residents 15 and over are married; in the typical compared French town the figure is 43%. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Saint-Bômer-les-Forges sits below 81% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (21%)
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
On the census count, 20% of adults out of school have no qualification. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 18th youngest 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
No nearby town is as young as Saint-Bômer-les-Forges
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Bômer-les-Forges | 44.8 | 24% | 8.1% | 2% |
| Domfront en Poiraie 4,113 · 4 mi | 57.7 | 36% | 6% | 4.6% |
| Flers 14,432 · 7.3 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 2.4% | 13% |
| Saint-Georges-des-Groseillers 3,173 · 8.5 mi | 55.2 | 34% | 1.8% | 3.9% |
| Tinchebray-Bocage 4,813 · 8.5 mi | 49.6 | 29% | 8.3% | 3.6% |
| Bagnoles de l'Orne Normandie 2,699 · 11.1 mi | 61.9 | 45% | 54% | 7.1% |
| Rives d'Andaine 2,844 · 11.3 mi | 54.6 | 31% | 10% | 3.4% |
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 Saint-Bômer-les-Forges
What is the population of Saint-Bômer-les-Forges?
1,023 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (1,041).
How old are Saint-Bômer-les-Forges’ residents?
The median age is 44.8, older than 55% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Bômer-les-Forges?
47, with occasional dwellings: 8.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Bômer-les-Forges?
INSEE counts 21 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2% of residents, and 14 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Bômer-les-Forges?
€24,470 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 9, 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.