Photo: Mairie La Ferrière · CC BY-SA 4.0In La Ferrière, 5% of homes are flats, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns
Households headed by a manual worker: 21%, above 86% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 5,454 residents and 2,260 households in La Ferrière. Locally, 4.7% of households have no car. Compared with other places, households in social housing are scarce here: 6.8%, fewer than in 77% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Vendée 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 Ferrière
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 5.6% single parents with children; 18% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A growing town: +11% since 2012, faster than 72% 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
In two steps, +7% to 2017 and +4% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +9% in Vendée.
Half of La Ferrière is under 42.8, younger than 59% 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 Ferrière 42.8. The median compared French town: 44.
In La Ferrière, 21% of residents are 65 or over, beside 22% in the typical compared French town. The census found that 11% of residents are 15 to 24 locally.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
34% of households are couples with children, more than in 89% 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 Vendée median and the France median
Living alone · share
Set against 10% in the typical compared French town, 5.6% of households are single parents in La Ferrière. For couples with children, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%. The census found that 28% of households are one person living alone here.
Empty homes: 4.8%, a lower share than 77% of compared French towns
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
1.1% of homes are second homes, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
Median living standard: €26,360 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 €26,360 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 54% of compared French towns. 6.0% of residents have a standard of living below 60% of France’s median.
More households headed by a manager or professional than 69% of compared French towns: 13%
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 retired person trails just over three fifths of compared French towns: 31%. As a reference point, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of immigrants than 85% of compared French towns, at 2.7%
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.
In the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals is 4.3%; La Ferrière has 1.8%. Against that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Vendée has 2.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 70% of compared French towns: 46%
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
25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, against 23% in La Ferrière. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Fewer adults with no qualification than 72% of compared French towns: 15%
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
32% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41 French towns of 5,399 to 5,508 people: this is the 15th 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.
Ages run from 35.3 in Crégy-lès-Meaux to 60.8 in Penmarch.
Of the 6 towns nearest La Ferrière, 1 are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Ferrière | 42.8 | 21% | 1.1% | 2.7% |
| La Chaize-le-Vicomte 3,948 · 3.3 mi | 40.1 | 16% | 3.7% | 2.2% |
| Dompierre-sur-Yon 4,625 · 3.6 mi | 42.8 | 16% | 1% | 1.6% |
| Essarts-en-Bocage 6,851 · 5.6 mi | 40.9 | 17% | 1.5% | 2.3% |
| La Roche-sur-Yon 54,849 · 6 mi | 42.6 | 23% | 3.7% | 7.8% |
| Mouilleron-le-Captif 5,273 · 6.4 mi | 46 | 23% | 3.8% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Martin-des-Noyers 2,560 · 6.5 mi | 41 | 20% | 1.1% | 1.8% |
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 Ferrière
What is the population of La Ferrière?
5,454 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% more than in 2012 (4,920).
How old are La Ferrière’s residents?
The median age is 42.8, younger than 59% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Ferrière?
26, with occasional dwellings: 1.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Ferrière?
INSEE counts 150 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.7% of residents, and 97 foreign nationals (1.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Ferrière?
€26,360 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 6.0% 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 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.