44% of households are couples with children, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
Where 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, Fay has 19%. The 2023 Census counted 751 residents in 280 households. Households without a car account for 3.5%. Nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24, a lower share than in 72% of compared French towns.
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 Fay
A town of families
44% of households are couples with children and 7% single parents with children; 25% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing fast
Fay had 605 residents at the 2012 census and 751 in 2023, up 24%: faster growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
A young town
Half of Fay’s residents are under 38.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 25% are under 15 and 13% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Many graduates
48% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 15% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A growing town: +24% since 2012, faster than 94% 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 same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Sarthe town ±0%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +10%; from 2017 to 2023, +12%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 13% in Fay, less than in 96% 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
■ Fay 38.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Fay’s residents are under 38.1, younger than in 88% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 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: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
Fay sits below 99% of compared French towns for one-person households (17%)
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
With single-parent households at 7%, Fay is behind 90% of compared French towns on that count. The usual figure: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. The average household has 2.7 people.
A lower share of flats than 99% of compared French towns, at 0.8%
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
The share of empty homes is 5.7%, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. 2.2% of homes are second homes, or about one in 45.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €29,030 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €29,030 a year: higher than in 79% of compared French towns.
Fay: 18% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 73% 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
The share of households headed by a manager or professional is 12%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.7% of residents are immigrants, below 95% of compared French towns
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.
The share of foreign nationals is 0.8%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Fay, 18% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 97% 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
Where 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, Fay has 50%. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 99% of compared French towns, at 6.8%
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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 48% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Fay. As a yardstick, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 2nd youngest of 41 French towns of 751 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
No nearby town is as young as Fay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fay | 38.1 | 13% | 2.2% | 1.7% |
| La Milesse 2,617 · 4.8 mi | 44.2 | 20% | 1.1% | 2.4% |
| Allonnes 10,739 · 4.9 mi | 44.7 | 26% | 1.2% | 12% |
| Saint-Saturnin 2,774 · 5.4 mi | 47.8 | 25% | 1.3% | 3.7% |
| Le Mans 146,249 · 6 mi | 40.4 | 22% | 3.4% | 12% |
| Coulaines 8,121 · 6.2 mi | 40.1 | 21% | 0.7% | 12% |
| Spay 2,808 · 6.8 mi | 48.8 | 25% | 1.8% | 1.9% |
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 Fay
What is the population of Fay?
751 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 24% more than in 2012 (605).
How old are Fay’s residents?
The median age is 38.1, younger than 88% of compared French towns. 30% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fay?
7, with occasional dwellings: 2.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fay?
INSEE counts 13 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.7% of residents, and 6 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fay?
€29,030 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.