There were 484 married individuals, 72 widows or widowers and 34 individuals who are divorced. , there were 335 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 74 households that consist of only one person and 33 households with five or more people. , a total of 328 apartments (91.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 13 apartments (3.6%) were seasonally occupied and 17 apartments (4.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 7.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.66%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Heritage sites of national significance The Grenier is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. Twin Town Cottens is twinned with the town of Combronde, France. Politics In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SPS which received 27.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (20.2%), the CVP (19.0%) and the FDP (12.3%). The SPS improved their position in Cottens rising to first, from second in 2007 (with 27.0%) The SVP moved from third in 2007 (with 18.9%) to second in 2011, the CVP moved from first in 2007 (with 27.3%) to third and the FDP retained about the same popularity (14.5% in 2007). A total of 372 votes were cast in this election, of which 15 or 4.0% were invalid. Economy , Cottens had an unemployment rate of 3.9%. , there were 37 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 13 businesses involved in this sector. 16 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 7 businesses in this sector. 154 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 17 businesses in this sector. There were 469 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.2% of the workforce. the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 155. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 29, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 15 of which 5 or (33.3%) were in manufacturing and 10 (66.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 111. In the tertiary sector; 14 or 12.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 2