Plombières-les-Bains ranks above 95% of compared French towns on second homes: 29%
With households headed by a manager or professional at 5.4%, Plombières-les-Bains is behind just over four fifths of compared French towns on that count. In Plombières-les-Bains, 43% of households are one person living alone. On residents aged 15 to 24, Plombières-les-Bains sits lower than 88% of compared French towns: 8.5%. There were 750 households locally at the 2023 Census, home to 1,573 residents.
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 Plombières-les-Bains
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 420 second homes and occasional dwellings in Plombières-les-Bains, 29% of its 1,450 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 33% 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
Plombières-les-Bains had 1,845 residents at the 2012 census and 1,573 in 2023, down 15%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 280 homes empty (20%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Plombières-les-Bains’ residents are under 52.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of empty homes than 99% of compared French towns: 20%
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
The share of flats tops 71% of compared French towns: 46%. To put it in context, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. In Plombières-les-Bains, 6.1% of households rent social housing (HLM). Compared with other places, households without a car are common here: 14%, more than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns.
−15% since 2012, a pace below 99% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Vosges town −6%.
Plombières-les-Bains is older than 91% of compared French towns: a median age of 52.9
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Plombières-les-Bains 52.9. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 32% in Plombières-les-Bains and 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
Couples with children: 21%, a lower share than 69% 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 Vosges median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2 people. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 60% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €23,370 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.
Half of residents live in households above €23,370 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
Plombières-les-Bains: 44% of households are headed by a retired person, above 92% 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
The census found that 15% of households are headed by a manual worker in Plombières-les-Bains. 5.4% of Plombières-les-Bains’ households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 44% by a retired person (32%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals make up 2.2% in Plombières-les-Bains, less than in 75% 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 nearly two thirds of compared French towns. Immigrants make up about one in 21 here (4.7%). On average, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of single residents than 59% of compared French towns, at 24%
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
Just over two in five residents 15 and over are married. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Only 18% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Plombières-les-Bains
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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Plombières-les-Bains comes in at 29%. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 8th oldest of 41 French towns of 1,573 to 2,582 people
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 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Plombières-les-Bains is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plombières-les-Bains | 52.9 | 32% | 29% | 4.7% |
| Le Val-d'Ajol 3,885 · 3.2 mi | 52.8 | 33% | 8.7% | 2.7% |
| Fougerolles-Saint-Valbert 3,764 · 5.7 mi | 48.9 | 26% | 6.3% | 2.1% |
| Xertigny 2,589 · 6.1 mi | 47 | 27% | 4.2% | 3% |
| Remiremont 7,388 · 7.7 mi | 50.3 | 31% | 3% | 9.1% |
| Saint-Nabord 3,953 · 7.9 mi | 49.3 | 26% | 3.2% | 3.8% |
| Saint-Étienne-lès-Remiremont 3,818 · 8.8 mi | 47.1 | 26% | 4.2% | 7.3% |
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 Plombières-les-Bains
What is the population of Plombières-les-Bains?
1,573 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 15% fewer than in 2012 (1,845).
How old are Plombières-les-Bains’ residents?
The median age is 52.9, older than 91% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Plombières-les-Bains?
420, with occasional dwellings: 29% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Plombières-les-Bains?
INSEE counts 75 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.7% of residents, and 35 foreign nationals (2.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Plombières-les-Bains?
€23,370 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 9, 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.