Below 98% of compared French towns: 6.4% of residents are 15 to 24
Compared with 12% in the typical compared French town, 1.4% of households rent social housing (HLM) here. Census figures put single-parent households at 19% in Fontaines. Higher than in 93% of compared French towns: 45% of households are headed by a retired person. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 459, in 210 households.
Throughout this page, the Yonne 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 Fontaines
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 50 second homes and occasional dwellings in Fontaines, 18% of its 280 homes: higher than in 92% 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 ↓
An older town
Half of Fontaines’ residents are under 50.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 24% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Only 3.6% of homes are flats in Fontaines
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
2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town, against 18% in Fontaines. The benchmark for flats in the typical compared French town: 30%. In Fontaines, 6.3% of households have no car. Compared with other places, empty homes are common here: 6.9%, more than in 52% of compared French towns.
Fontaines’s population moved −2% on 2012, less than in 79% 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
The first five years brought +1%; the six to 2023, −3%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Yonne town −4%.
Fontaines is older than 85% of compared French towns: a median age of 50.7
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fontaines 50.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%.
29% of households are one person living alone, below 81% 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 Yonne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Nearly a quarter of households are couples with children; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. The usual figure: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2.2 people each.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €25,320 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 €25,320 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 57% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a manual worker than 88% of compared French towns: 21%
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 manager or professional: 7.1% here and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Fontaines, 2.2% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 90% 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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Fontaines, 1.7%. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Fontaines, 22% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 82% 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
47% are married and 7.5% in a PACS, against 43% and 6.1% in the median compared French town; 5.3% are widowed. Elsewhere, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Only 19% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Fontaines
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
Census figures put adults with no qualification at 18% in Fontaines. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 12th oldest of 41 French towns of 459 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
4 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Fontaines
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontaines | 50.7 | 24% | 18% | 2.2% |
| Toucy 2,571 · 3.5 mi | 52.2 | 32% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Montholon 2,709 · 14.4 mi | 51.9 | 31% | 7.9% | 3.7% |
| Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche 3,151 · 14.9 mi | 56.9 | 38% | 1.5% | 6.3% |
| Charny Orée de Puisaye 4,900 · 14.9 mi | 56 | 35% | 23% | 3.3% |
| Auxerre 35,097 · 16.3 mi | 44.1 | 24% | 3.1% | 13% |
| Appoigny 3,114 · 17.6 mi | 50.2 | 28% | 2.7% | 6.2% |
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 Fontaines
What is the population of Fontaines?
459 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (470).
How old are Fontaines’ residents?
The median age is 50.7, older than 85% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fontaines?
50, with occasional dwellings: 18% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fontaines?
INSEE counts 10 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.2% of residents, and 8 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fontaines?
€25,320 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.