16% of homes stand empty, a share 96% of compared French towns don’t reach
In the typical compared French town, one in ten households are single parents; in Pontigny, 6.4%. 6.9% of homes are flats, a lower share than in 92% of compared French towns. The town had 752 residents in 330 households at the 2023 census. Census figures put households in social housing at 5.8% in the town.
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 Pontigny
Empty homes
The census found 63 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 57% of compared French towns: Pontigny changed by +3% since 2012
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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Yonne town −4%.
Only 8.4% of residents are 15 to 24 in Pontigny
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Pontigny 45.8. The median compared French town: 44.
25% of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town. With a median age of 45.8, Pontigny is older than 62% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 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: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%.
27% of households are couples with children, more than in 59% 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
Each household has 2.2 people on average. Couples with children make up 25% in the typical compared French town. At 34%, the share of one-person households is lower than in 58% of compared French towns.
Pontigny ranks below 67% of compared French towns on households without a car: 7.9%
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
Of all households, 5% moved in during the last two years and 24% have stayed three decades or more. The comparison figure for households without a car is 11% in the typical compared French town. Second homes are more common here than in 62% of compared French towns.
€26,290 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 Pontigny’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €26,290 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 54% of compared French towns.
42% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 88% 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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in Pontigny. Elsewhere, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manual worker are rarer here than in 66% of compared French towns.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Pontigny ranks above 67% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 6.6%
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.
7.9% of residents are immigrants, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share higher than in 60% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Yonne has 9.2%. In the typical compared French town, foreign nationals come to 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Pontigny sits below 81% of compared French towns for single residents (22%)
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 Pontigny comes in at 40%. Measured more widely, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 23%, a lower share than 74% 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
In the typical compared French town, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification; in Pontigny, 22%. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (752 to 2,582 people), the 19th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Pontigny sits below 4 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontigny | 45.8 | 25% | 3% | 7.9% |
| Saint-Florentin 4,164 · 6.4 mi | 47.7 | 28% | 3.5% | 18% |
| Brienon-sur-Armançon 3,032 · 7.4 mi | 47 | 25% | 7.3% | 6.1% |
| Monéteau 4,114 · 7.5 mi | 52.1 | 32% | 2% | 6.2% |
| Appoigny 3,114 · 9 mi | 50.2 | 28% | 2.7% | 6.2% |
| Migennes 6,688 · 9.9 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 1.8% | 17% |
| Auxerre 35,097 · 10.2 mi | 44.1 | 24% | 3.1% | 13% |
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 Pontigny
What is the population of Pontigny?
752 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (729).
How old are Pontigny’s residents?
The median age is 45.8, older than 62% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pontigny?
12, with occasional dwellings: 3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pontigny?
INSEE counts 60 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.9% of residents, and 50 foreign nationals (6.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pontigny?
€26,290 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.