Fays ranks above 99% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 62%
2.5% of homes stand empty; in the typical compared French town the figure is 6.7%. At the 2023 Census Fays was home to 222 people in 100 households. On the census count, 4.8% of households are single parents. Few places have so few flats: 6.6% here, fewer than in 93% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Vosges 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 Fays
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 16 second homes and occasional dwellings in Fays, 13% of its 120 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Fays had 243 residents at the 2012 census and 222 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Fays’ residents are under 52.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 35% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 4.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A higher share of second homes than 90% of compared French towns, at 13%
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
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car in Fays comes in at 6.8%. 3.9% of households moved in less than two years ago; 38% have been in their home 30 years or more. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Fays’s population moved −9% on 2012, less than in 96% 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, −8% to 2017 and ±0% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −6% in Vosges.
Half of Fays is over 52.5, older than 90% 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
■ Fays 52.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 22% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Fays comes in at 35%. One in ten residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vosges 52.1%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fays ranks below 83% of compared French towns on one-person households: 29%
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 Vosges median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.2 people on average. Higher than in 68% of compared French towns: 29% of households are couples with children. Against that, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €25,610 a year in standard of living
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 €25,610 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 53% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 87% of compared French towns: 4.8%
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
Households headed by a manual worker: 19%, above 80% of compared French towns. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Fays, 0.9% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 99% 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.
The median compared commune in Vosges has 5.3%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Here, 0.5% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fays ranks above 97% of compared French towns on married residents: 53%
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
With single residents at 19%, Fays is behind 94% of compared French towns on that count. As a yardstick, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Only 26% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Fays
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
Adults with no qualification: 21% here and 19% in the typical compared French town. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
8th highest median age among 41 French towns of 222 to 2,582
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).
A younger town than 1 of the 6 around it: Fays
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fays | 52.5 | 35% | 13% | 0.9% |
| Bruyères 2,923 · 2.3 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 4.3% | 5% |
| Granges-Aumontzey 2,529 · 6.2 mi | 53 | 31% | 14% | 5.6% |
| Éloyes 3,138 · 7.6 mi | 47.1 | 26% | 2% | 4.4% |
| Épinal 32,251 · 10.2 mi | 41.3 | 22% | 3.4% | 12% |
| Rambervillers 5,018 · 10.5 mi | 47 | 26% | 1.4% | 7.3% |
| Golbey 8,832 · 11.2 mi | 44.1 | 22% | 0.9% | 5.9% |
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 Fays
What is the population of Fays?
222 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (243).
How old are Fays’ residents?
The median age is 52.5, older than 90% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 35% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fays?
16, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fays?
INSEE counts 2 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.9% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fays?
€25,610 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 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.