Older than 85% of compared French towns: half of Fontaines is over 50.5
Against a figure of 2.1% in the typical compared French town, the share of second homes in Fontaines comes in at 6.3%. 5.7% of households are single parents, fewer than in 97% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 1,841 people lived locally, in 870 households. Put another way, about one in three: 37% of households are headed by a retired person.
Throughout this page, the Saône-et-Loire 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 Fontaines
Fewer residents than in 2012
Fontaines had 1,959 residents at the 2012 census and 1,841 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 91% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of −6% since 2012 leaves Fontaines behind 91% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −1%, and from 2017 to 2023 −5%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Saône-et-Loire town −3%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 71% of compared French towns: 26%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fontaines 50.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Nothing unusual on residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Saône-et-Loire 52.3%, France 51.8%.
Below 64% of compared French towns: 22% of households are couples with children
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 Saône-et-Loire median and the France median
Living alone · share
Against a figure of 35% in the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households in Fontaines comes in at 33%. For comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. There are 2.1 people in the average household.
In Fontaines, 7% of households rent social housing (HLM), fewer than in 77% 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
One household in 14 has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. On households without a car, Fontaines sits lower than 73% of compared French towns: 7.1%. Against that, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. The census found that 22% of homes are flats locally.
€29,460 a year: the median standard of living
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 Fontaines is €29,460 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 81% of compared French towns.
12% of households are headed by a manual worker, below 63% 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
Here, one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional. In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of foreign nationals than 90% of compared French towns: 1.3%
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.
3.1% of residents are immigrants (typical compared French town: 6.5%). Foreign nationals make up 4.3% in the typical compared French town. That is lower than in just over four fifths of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Saône-et-Loire has 6.9%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fontaines ranks above 96% of compared French towns on married residents: 52%
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
20% of residents 15 and over are single, against 25% in the typical compared French town. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
30% of adults hold a diploma above the bac
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
Roughly two in ten: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,841 to 2,582 people), the 13th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 1 are older than Fontaines
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontaines | 50.5 | 26% | 6.3% | 3.1% |
| Chagny 5,350 · 3.7 mi | 48 | 25% | 1.6% | 5.8% |
| Champforgeuil 2,637 · 4.1 mi | 42.1 | 23% | 1.3% | 11% |
| Châtenoy-le-Royal 6,267 · 4.6 mi | 45.8 | 27% | 0.9% | 9% |
| Givry 3,598 · 5.2 mi | 51.2 | 28% | 4.1% | 2.4% |
| Chalon-sur-Saône 45,102 · 5.9 mi | 41.5 | 23% | 4% | 14% |
| Saint-Rémy 6,410 · 6.7 mi | 49.6 | 29% | 1.1% | 6.5% |
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 Fontaines
What is the population of Fontaines?
1,841 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (1,959).
How old are Fontaines’ residents?
The median age is 50.5, older than 85% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fontaines?
64, with occasional dwellings: 6.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fontaines?
INSEE counts 57 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.1% of residents, and 23 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fontaines?
€29,460 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.