A median age of 61.2: Fernoël is older than 99% of compared French towns
64% of households are headed by a retired person; in the typical compared French town the figure is 32%. At the 2023 Census, 137 people lived in Fernoël, in 72 households. Census figures put couples with children at 14% here. Few places have so few flats: 7% here, fewer than in 92% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Puy-de-Dôme 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 Fernoël
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 22 second homes and occasional dwellings in Fernoël, 19% of its 120 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 91% 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 Fernoël’s residents are under 61.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 44% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 16% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 22 homes empty (19%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Fernoël ranks above 99% of compared French towns on empty homes: 19%
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 second homes is 2.1%; Fernoël has 19%. Measured more widely, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Turnover: one in ten households moved in less than two years ago, and 38% have lived in their home 30 years or more.
+2% since 2012: slower than 60% 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, +4% in Puy-de-Dôme.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 99% of compared French towns, at 44%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fernoël 61.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 3.7% of residents are 15 to 24 here. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Puy-de-Dôme 52.2%, France 51.8%.
More one-person households than 79% of compared French towns: 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 Puy-de-Dôme median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The benchmark for one-person households in the typical compared French town: 35%. Households here average 1.9 people each.
A median standard of living of €22,020 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €22,020 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 88% of compared French towns.
The largest group of households: retired (64%)
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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 3% of residents are immigrants in Fernoël
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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Fernoël, 2.2%. That is lower than in just over four fifths of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Puy-de-Dôme has 5.9%. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% 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.
Only 12% of residents 15 and over are single in Fernoël
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
54% of residents 15 and over are married and 3.4% in a PACS, against 43% and 6.1% in the median compared French town; 14% are widowed. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 98% of compared French towns: 15%
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
Adults with no qualification make up 25%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
Among 41 French towns of 137 to 2,582 people, the 3rd 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).
Fernoël and the towns around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernoël | 61.2 | 44% | 19% | 3% |
| Aubusson 3,018 · 15.5 mi | 56.8 | 37% | 8.5% | 6.6% |
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 Fernoël
What is the population of Fernoël?
137 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (134).
How old are Fernoël’s residents?
The median age is 61.2, older than 99% of compared French towns. 13% are under 18 and 44% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fernoël?
22, with occasional dwellings: 19% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fernoël?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3% 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 Fernoël?
€22,020 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.