15% of households are single parents, a share 96% of compared French towns don’t reach
Where 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, Saint-Paul-de-Varax has 24%. At the 2023 Census, 1,634 people lived here, in 650 households. Put another way, about one in six: 17% of residents are 65 or over. Lower than in just over four fifths of compared French towns: 5.7% of households have no car.
Throughout this page, the Ain 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.
A growing town: +9% since 2012, faster than 66% 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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Ain town +13%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought +2%; 2017 to 2023, +7%.
A median age of 40.1: Saint-Paul-de-Varax is younger than 79% 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
■ Saint-Paul-de-Varax 40.1. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 12%, against 11% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
In Saint-Paul-de-Varax, 31% of households are couples with children, more than in 82% 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 Ain median and the France median
Living alone · share
Compared with 35% in the typical compared French town, 30% of households are one person living alone here. In the typical compared French town, couples with children come to 25%. Households here average 2.4 people each.
Flats make up 17% in Saint-Paul-de-Varax, less than in 73% 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
Where 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, Saint-Paul-de-Varax has 18%. For flats, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%. In Saint-Paul-de-Varax, 7.8% of homes stand empty.
At the median, €26,850 a year to live on
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 €26,850 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 60% of compared French towns.
Above 76% of compared French towns: 18% of households are headed by a manual worker
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
One in ten households are headed by a manager or professional, or about one in ten. Elsewhere, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 3.9% in Saint-Paul-de-Varax, less than in 74% 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.
2.7% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% 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.
Saint-Paul-de-Varax sits above 64% of compared French towns for single residents (27%)
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
With married residents at 41%, Saint-Paul-de-Varax is behind 64% of compared French towns on that count. Elsewhere, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Below 60% of compared French towns: 27% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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
18% of adults out of school have no qualification. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Among 41 French towns of 1,634 to 2,582 people, the 3rd youngest
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).
Every neighbor is older than Saint-Paul-de-Varax
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Paul-de-Varax | 40.1 | 17% | 1.7% | 3.9% |
| Péronnas 6,444 · 7 mi | 48.1 | 28% | 1.7% | 8.6% |
| Chalamont 2,533 · 7.2 mi | 41.2 | 20% | 2.4% | 3.6% |
| Saint-Denis-lès-Bourg 6,160 · 7.9 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 1.2% | 8.2% |
| Villars-les-Dombes 5,163 · 8.1 mi | 42.5 | 24% | 2.8% | 7% |
| Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne 5,250 · 8.4 mi | 48.6 | 29% | 2.3% | 4.9% |
| Bourg-en-Bresse 42,372 · 8.6 mi | 41.4 | 23% | 2.5% | 19% |
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 Saint-Paul-de-Varax
What is the population of Saint-Paul-de-Varax?
1,634 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (1,500).
How old are Saint-Paul-de-Varax’s residents?
The median age is 40.1, younger than 79% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Paul-de-Varax?
12, with occasional dwellings: 1.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Paul-de-Varax?
INSEE counts 63 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.9% of residents, and 44 foreign nationals (2.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Paul-de-Varax?
€26,850 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.