Doucelles: 44% of households are couples with children, above 99% of compared French towns
Where 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, Doucelles has 1%. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 223, in 86 households. Roughly one in ten: one in ten residents are 65 or over. Higher than in 88% of compared French towns: 9.9% of homes are second homes.
Throughout this page, the Sarthe 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 Doucelles
A town of families
44% of households are couples with children and 0% single parents with children; 19% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Doucelles had 254 residents at the 2012 census and 223 in 2023, down 12%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −12% since 2012, behind 98% 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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Sarthe town ±0%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought −2%; 2017 to 2023, −11%.
15% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 95% 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
■ Doucelles 40.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Doucelles’s residents are under 40.5, younger than in just over three quarters of compared French towns. To put it in context, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 28%, a lower share than 86% 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 Sarthe median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.6 people. The share of one-person households in the typical compared French town is 35%. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Households without a car: 5.7%, a lower share than 82% 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
11% of households moved in less than two years ago; 22% have been in their home 30 years or more. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The share of empty homes is 4.9%, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €25,660 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 median standard of living in Doucelles is €25,660 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 53% of compared French towns.
Doucelles sits below 80% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (5.6%)
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 retired person: 28% here and 32% in the typical compared French town. Doucelles has fewer households headed by a manual worker than 70% of compared French towns, at 11%. The comparison figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 1.3% of residents are immigrants in Doucelles
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.
Foreign nationals: 0.4% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Sarthe has 2.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 98% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
49% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 89% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
The share of single residents is 22%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 12% in Doucelles, less than in 99% 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
26% of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
4th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 223 to 2,582
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.
Every neighbor is older than Doucelles
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doucelles | 40.5 | 10% | 9.9% | 1.3% |
| Fresnay-sur-Sarthe 2,928 · 5.1 mi | 51 | 33% | 7% | 2.2% |
| La Bazoge 3,796 · 10.9 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 1.5% | 1.4% |
| Mamers 4,996 · 11.2 mi | 50.9 | 32% | 1.4% | 4.2% |
| Saint-Germain-du-Corbéis 3,636 · 12.2 mi | 54 | 35% | 1.4% | 5% |
| Alençon 25,490 · 12.6 mi | 42.7 | 24% | 1.1% | 12% |
| Bonnétable 3,703 · 13.1 mi | 53.5 | 34% | 4.5% | 1.7% |
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 Doucelles
What is the population of Doucelles?
223 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% fewer than in 2012 (254).
How old are Doucelles’ residents?
The median age is 40.5, younger than 76% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 10% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Doucelles?
10, with occasional dwellings: 9.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Doucelles?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.3% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Doucelles?
€25,660 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.