La Ferté-Bernard sits below 94% of compared French towns for couples with children (14%)
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car in La Ferté-Bernard comes in at 23%. At 42%, the share of households headed by a retired person is higher than in 89% of compared French towns. Its 4,520 households held 8,740 residents at the 2023 Census. The census found that 19% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the town.
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 La Ferté-Bernard
Many people living alone
49% of La Ferté-Bernard’s households are one person: higher than in 91% of compared French towns; 35% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, La Ferté-Bernard has changed by −4%, slower than 84% 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 −3%; 2017 to 2023, −1%.
A median age of 50.4: La Ferté-Bernard is older than 84% 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
■ La Ferté-Bernard 50.4. The median compared French town: 44.
At 11%, residents aged 15 to 24 sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town. More residents aged 65 and over than in 87% of compared French towns: 31%.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
49% of households are one person living alone, more than in 91% 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
Little separates the share of single-parent households here, 9.2%, from the figure in the typical compared French town. On average, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
9.6% of homes stand empty, a share 77% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Second homes make up 3%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Census figures put flats at 44% in La Ferté-Bernard.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €23,720 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.
Half of residents live in households above €23,720 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 75% of compared French towns. The poverty rate is 18.0%.
20% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 83% 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
In La Ferté-Bernard, 6.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional, beside 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Across the 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).
La Ferté-Bernard ranks above 60% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 5.4%
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 median compared commune in Sarthe has 2.8%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 53% of compared French towns. On the census count, 6.8% of residents are immigrants. Measured more widely, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
A lower share of married residents than 78% of compared French towns, at 38%
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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in La Ferté-Bernard comes in at 29%. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Adults with no qualification make up 34% in La Ferté-Bernard, more than in 97% 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
The share of graduates of higher education is 20%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Of 41 French towns its size (8,606 to 8,869 people), the 5th 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.
The youngest is Saint-Jory (34.3), the oldest Saint-Jean-de-Monts (60.2).
3 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than La Ferté-Bernard
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Ferté-Bernard | 50.4 | 31% | 3% | 6.8% |
| Cherré-Au 2,758 · 1 mi | 50 | 28% | 2.7% | 2.2% |
| Val-au-Perche 3,336 · 6.3 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 11% | 3.5% |
| Vibraye 2,523 · 9.8 mi | 53.9 | 34% | 6.1% | 1.4% |
| Bonnétable 3,703 · 10.1 mi | 53.5 | 34% | 4.5% | 1.7% |
| Connerré 2,780 · 11.6 mi | 45.2 | 26% | 2.7% | 2.4% |
| Nogent-le-Rotrou 9,292 · 12 mi | 51.3 | 32% | 4.6% | 8.4% |
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 La Ferté-Bernard
What is the population of La Ferté-Bernard?
8,740 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (9,074).
How old are La Ferté-Bernard’s residents?
The median age is 50.4, older than 84% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Ferté-Bernard?
160, with occasional dwellings: 3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Ferté-Bernard?
INSEE counts 600 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.8% of residents, and 480 foreign nationals (5.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Ferté-Bernard?
€23,720 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.