Half of Pontoise is under 34.2, younger than 98% of compared French towns
Against a figure of 30% in the typical compared French town, the share of flats in Pontoise comes in at 75%. Here, 15% of households are single parents. Compared with other places, households headed by a manager or professional are common here: 21%, more than in 90% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 31,970 residents and 13,940 households locally.
Throughout this page, the Val-d'Oise 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 Pontoise
A young town
Half of Pontoise’s residents are under 34.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 20% are under 15 and 13% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 7,300 immigrants in Pontoise (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 23% of residents, against 16% for the median compared commune in Val-d'Oise. 20% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Faster growth than 55% of compared French towns: Pontoise changed by +6% since 2012
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 Val-d'Oise town +8%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +2%; from 2017 to 2023, +4%.
In Pontoise, 13% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 97% 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
■ Pontoise 34.2. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 16%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Val-d'Oise 51.5%, France 51.8%.
More one-person households than 77% of compared French towns: 42%
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 Val-d'Oise median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 2.3 people on average. For one-person households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 35%. At 25%, the share of couples with children is lower than in 53% of compared French towns.
Above 94% of compared French towns: 28% of households have no car
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
15% of households arrived within the last two years, while 12% have stayed 30 years or more. At 25%, the share of households in social housing is higher than in 86% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. The figure for empty homes is 8.9% in Pontoise and 6.7% in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €24,740 a year per consumption unit
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 €24,740 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 63% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 21.6% of the population.
Households headed by a retired person make up 18% in Pontoise, less than in 97% 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
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (12%), Pontoise is below 66% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Pontoise sits above 95% of compared French towns for immigrants (23%)
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 Val-d'Oise has 16%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 95% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Foreign nationals: 20% of the total.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A larger share of single residents than 97% of compared French towns: 39%
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
Married residents make up 35%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
More graduates of higher education than 84% of compared French towns: 42%
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
Put another way, about one in five: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (30,098 to 33,692 people), the 2nd youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Savigny-le-Temple is the youngest (33.4); Aix-les-Bains the oldest (48.5).
5 of 6 neighbors are older than Pontoise
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontoise | 34.2 | 13% | 2.2% | 23% |
| Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône 25,578 · 1.2 mi | 35.3 | 12% | 0.6% | 25% |
| Osny 17,954 · 1.5 mi | 38.6 | 17% | 0.9% | 18% |
| Éragny-sur-Oise 18,436 · 2.2 mi | 35.9 | 14% | 0.8% | 17% |
| Cergy 70,906 · 2.4 mi | 30.4 | 9.1% | 4.4% | 30% |
| Auvers-sur-Oise 6,863 · 3.4 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 3.4% | 9.4% |
| Pierrelaye 10,130 · 3.5 mi | 35.2 | 12% | 0.8% | 20% |
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 Pontoise
What is the population of Pontoise?
31,970 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (30,164).
How old are Pontoise’s residents?
The median age is 34.2, younger than 98% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pontoise?
350, with occasional dwellings: 2.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pontoise?
INSEE counts 7,310 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 23% of residents, and 6,250 foreign nationals (20%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pontoise?
€24,740 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.6% 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 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.