Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 99% of compared French towns: 2.4%
In the typical compared French town, the share of flats is 30%; Pontvallain has 4.6%. The 2023 Census counted 1,607 residents in 630 households. 9.7% of homes are second homes, or about one in ten. Few places have as many couples with children: 32% here, more than in 84% 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 Pontvallain
Fewer residents than in 2012
Pontvallain had 1,740 residents at the 2012 census and 1,607 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Pontvallain has changed by −8%, slower 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% for the median Sarthe town, the change came in two steps: −4% from 2012 to 2017, then −4% to 2023.
In Pontvallain, 9.2% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 78% 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
■ Pontvallain 46. The median compared French town: 44.
Where just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Pontvallain has 23%. As a yardstick, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. The median age here is 46, higher than in 63% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
A lower share of one-person households than 89% of compared French towns, at 27%
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
Households average 2.4 people. Measured more widely, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. 7.1% of households are single parents, a lower share than in 89% of compared French towns.
Pontvallain ranks below 79% of compared French towns on households in social housing: 6.5%
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
Some one in ten households are newcomers of under two years, against 18% who have been there 30 years or more. Fewer households without a car than in 70% of compared French towns: 7.5%. In the typical compared French town, households in social housing come to 12%. The census found that 7.7% of homes stand empty in Pontvallain.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €24,430 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.
Living standards centre on €24,430 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 67% of compared French towns.
Pontvallain: 20% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 85% 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 figure for households headed by a retired person is 37% in Pontvallain and 32% in the typical compared French town. By way of 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).
Pontvallain ranks below 98% of compared French towns on immigrants: 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.
Foreign nationals make up 0.7%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
Fewer single residents than 94% of compared French towns: 19%
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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 48% in Pontvallain. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Graduates of higher education: 19%, a lower share than 89% 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
Here 25% of adults out of school have no qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 19%. On average, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,607 to 2,582 people: this is the 19th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
4 of 6 neighbors are older than Pontvallain
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontvallain | 46 | 23% | 9.7% | 1.3% |
| Mayet 3,187 · 4.1 mi | 49.4 | 30% | 6.6% | 1.3% |
| Écommoy 4,868 · 6.6 mi | 47.9 | 28% | 2.4% | 2.3% |
| Cérans-Foulletourte 3,341 · 7.3 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 2.8% | 1.4% |
| Le Lude 3,983 · 7.9 mi | 55.9 | 36% | 3.7% | 3.1% |
| Laigné-Saint-Gervais 4,252 · 8.5 mi | 47.6 | 25% | 1.8% | 1.5% |
| Guécélard 3,202 · 9.2 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 0.5% | 1.6% |
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 Pontvallain
What is the population of Pontvallain?
1,607 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (1,740).
How old are Pontvallain’s residents?
The median age is 46, older than 63% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pontvallain?
74, with occasional dwellings: 9.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pontvallain?
INSEE counts 21 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.3% of residents, and 12 foreign nationals (0.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pontvallain?
€24,430 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.