Half of Les Forges is over 56.2, older than 95% of compared French towns
Where just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town, Les Forges has 4.7%. Households in social housing account for 1.2%. 8.6% of homes are flats, fewer than in 89% of compared French towns. The town had 1,776 residents in 850 households at the 2023 census.
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 Les Forges
An older town
Half of Les Forges’ residents are under 56.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.8% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Les Forges had 1,974 residents at the 2012 census and 1,776 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−10% since 2012: slower than 97% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was −5%; from 2017 to 2023, −5%.
Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 95% of compared French towns: 7.5%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Les Forges 56.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 33%, above 91% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
Les Forges sits below 89% of compared French towns for single-parent households (7.1%)
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
Compared with 35% in the typical compared French town, 28% of households are one person living alone here. Typically, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Across Les Forges, 21% of households are couples with children.
Below 92% of compared French towns: 3.5% of homes stand empty
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
On second homes, 1.4% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Turnover: 4.1% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 33% have lived in their home 30 years or more.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €29,610 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €29,610 a year: higher than in 82% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person make up 49% in Les Forges, more than in 96% 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
Compared with 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 16% of households are headed by a manager or professional here. Across Les Forges, just over one in ten households are headed by a manual worker. For households headed by a retired person, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 88% of compared French towns: 2.3%
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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 1.4% of residents are foreign nationals in Les Forges. As a yardstick, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Vosges has 5.3%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 88% 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.
Single residents: 17%, a lower share than 99% 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
Against a figure of 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Les Forges comes in at 54%. For comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification: 13%, a lower share than 82% 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
The figure for graduates of higher education is 36% in Les Forges and 30% in the typical compared French town. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Among 41 French towns of 1,776 to 2,582 people, the 5th 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.
No nearby town is as old as Les Forges
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Forges | 56.2 | 33% | 1.4% | 2.3% |
| Chantraine 3,198 · 1.8 mi | 48.1 | 24% | 1.4% | 3.9% |
| Golbey 8,832 · 2.2 mi | 44.1 | 22% | 0.9% | 5.9% |
| Épinal 32,251 · 2.9 mi | 41.3 | 22% | 3.4% | 12% |
| Thaon-les-Vosges 8,547 · 5.4 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 1.7% | 4.7% |
| Xertigny 2,589 · 8.7 mi | 47 | 27% | 4.2% | 3% |
| Éloyes 3,138 · 11.4 mi | 47.1 | 26% | 2% | 4.4% |
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 Les Forges
What is the population of Les Forges?
1,776 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (1,974).
How old are Les Forges’ residents?
The median age is 56.2, older than 95% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Les Forges?
12, with occasional dwellings: 1.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Les Forges?
INSEE counts 41 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.3% of residents, and 25 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Les Forges?
€29,610 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.