Couples with children: 10%, a lower share than 99% of compared French towns
With a median age of 48.9, Fourneaux is older than nearly four fifths of compared French towns. Locally, 5.7% of households are headed by a manager or professional. The town counted 701 residents and 350 households at the 2023 Census. 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town, against 18% in the town.
Throughout this page, the Savoie 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 Fourneaux
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 69 second homes and occasional dwellings in Fourneaux, 14% of its 510 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 8.7% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 200 immigrants in Fourneaux (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 28% of residents, against 7% for the median compared commune in Savoie. 27% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Empty homes
The census found 86 homes empty (17%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
90% of homes are flats, a share 98% 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
In Fourneaux, 14% of homes are second homes, beside 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Locally, 17% of homes stand empty. Lower than in 86% of compared French towns: 5.1% of households rent social housing (HLM). On average, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
From 2012 to 2023, 57% of compared French towns grew faster than Fourneaux: +3%
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 ±0%, and from 2017 to 2023 +4%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Savoie town +9%.
26% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 72% 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
■ Fourneaux 48.9. The median compared French town: 44.
12% of residents are 15 to 24; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
42% women, 58% men
About 72 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Savoie 51.5%, France 51.8%.
More one-person households than 79% of compared French towns: 43%
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 Savoie median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2 people. More single-parent households than in 70% of compared French towns: 11%. The benchmark for one-person households in the typical compared French town: 35%.
€24,900 a year is the median standard of living here
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 midpoint of living standards here is €24,900 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 61% of compared French towns.
31% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 99% 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
5.7% of Fourneaux’s households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 34% by a retired person (32%). The comparison figure for households headed by a manual worker is 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Fourneaux, 28% of residents are immigrants, more than in 98% 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.
27% of residents are foreign nationals (typical compared French town: 4.3%). Immigrants make up 6.5% 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.
Single residents: 33%, a higher share than 88% 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
The share of married residents stands at 42%. Typically, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Fourneaux sits below 82% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (21%)
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
Compared with 19% in the typical compared French town, 21% of adults out of school have no qualification here. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 701 to 2,582 people, the 15th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Fourneaux is younger than 2 of its 3 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fourneaux | 48.9 | 26% | 14% | 28% |
| Modane 2,849 · 1.1 mi | 52.2 | 32% | 42% | 15% |
| Les Belleville 3,498 · 14.4 mi | 42.4 | 15% | 88% | 7.2% |
| Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne 7,524 · 15.8 mi | 50 | 29% | 4.1% | 15% |
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 Fourneaux
What is the population of Fourneaux?
701 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (679).
How old are Fourneaux’s residents?
The median age is 48.9, older than 79% of compared French towns. 13% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fourneaux?
69, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fourneaux?
INSEE counts 200 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 28% of residents, and 190 foreign nationals (27%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fourneaux?
€24,900 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.