Plainfaing sits above 94% of compared French towns for second homes (27%)
Households headed by a manager or professional: 3.9% here and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. At the same time, more one-person households than in 82% of compared French towns: 44%. Plainfaing had 1,569 residents in 790 households at the 2023 Census. On the census count, nearly one in ten homes stand empty.
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 Plainfaing
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 330 second homes and occasional dwellings in Plainfaing, 27% of its 1,220 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 73% 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
Plainfaing had 1,768 residents at the 2012 census and 1,569 in 2023, down 11%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Plainfaing’s residents are under 50.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 26% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 6.2% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
10% of households rent social housing (HLM), below 59% 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
One household in eight has no car (median compared French town: 11%). Turnover: 8% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 24% have lived in their home 30 years or more. At 12%, the share of households without a car is higher than in 58% of compared French towns.
−11% since 2012: slower than 98% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −6% in Vosges.
Half of Plainfaing is over 50.8, older than 85% 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
■ Plainfaing 50.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Plainfaing has 9.5%. Residents aged 65 and over make up about one in four here (26%).
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Vosges 52.1%, France 51.8%.
Only 18% of households are couples with children in Plainfaing
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
Just over one in ten households are single parents; in the typical compared French town the figure is 10%. The share of couples with children in the typical compared French town is 25%. Average household size: 1.9 people.
€22,040 a year: the median 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 €22,040 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 88% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a retired person than 88% of compared French towns, at 42%
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
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Plainfaing has 23%. The usual figure: nearly a third 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).
Plainfaing sits below 61% of compared French towns for immigrants (5.2%)
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 61% of compared French towns. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%. Foreign nationals: 4.2% of the total.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Plainfaing sits below 83% of compared French towns for married residents (37%)
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
29% of residents 15 and over are single (typical compared French town: 25%). In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 98% of compared French towns, at 14%
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
28% of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
11th highest median age among 41 French towns of 1,569 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).
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 2 are older than Plainfaing
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainfaing | 50.8 | 26% | 27% | 5.2% |
| Fraize 2,843 · 1.5 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 9.6% | 2.2% |
| Anould 3,234 · 3.6 mi | 50.6 | 26% | 9.5% | 1.9% |
| Orbey 3,429 · 7.1 mi | 49.6 | 26% | 12% | 3.7% |
| Saint-Dié-des-Vosges 19,251 · 9 mi | 46.5 | 27% | 2.9% | 12% |
| Gérardmer 7,581 · 9.1 mi | 54.8 | 33% | 41% | 6.8% |
| Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines 4,851 · 9.4 mi | 47.7 | 24% | 7.8% | 11% |
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 Plainfaing
What is the population of Plainfaing?
1,569 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% fewer than in 2012 (1,768).
How old are Plainfaing’s residents?
The median age is 50.8, older than 85% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Plainfaing?
330, with occasional dwellings: 27% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Plainfaing?
INSEE counts 82 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.2% of residents, and 67 foreign nationals (4.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Plainfaing?
€22,040 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 October 30, 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.