A median age of 60: Saint-Palais is older than 98% of compared French towns
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 163 residents in 91 households. Here, 1.6% of homes are flats. Set against 35% in the typical compared French town, 45% of households are one person living alone in Saint-Palais.
Throughout this page, the Allier 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 Saint-Palais
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 47 second homes and occasional dwellings in Saint-Palais, 25% of its 190 homes: higher than in 94% 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 Saint-Palais’ residents are under 60 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 40% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Saint-Palais had 181 residents at the 2012 census and 163 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 50 homes empty (27%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Saint-Palais ranks above 99% of compared French towns on empty homes: 27%
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
One household in 10 has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%. Across Saint-Palais, a quarter of homes are second homes.
Saint-Palais’s population moved −10% on 2012, less than in 97% 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 Allier town −1%.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 98% of compared French towns, at 40%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Palais 60. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24; in Saint-Palais, 2.8%. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
20% of households are couples with children, below 74% 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 Allier median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 1.8 people on average. For comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. On single-parent households, 10% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €21,940 a year in 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €21,940 a year: lower than in 89% of compared French towns.
Saint-Palais ranks above 99% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 55%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%; Saint-Palais has 10%. By way of comparison, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
8.5% of residents are foreign nationals, more than in 76% 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 figure for immigrants is 10% in Saint-Palais and 6.5% in the typical compared French town. That is higher than in 71% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Allier has 4.6%. 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.
A smaller share of single residents than 86% of compared French towns: 21%
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
45% of residents 15 and over are married, against 43% in the typical compared French town. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 93% of compared French towns, at 17%
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
Nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, against 28% in Saint-Palais. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 163 to 2,582 people: this is the 4th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as old as Saint-Palais
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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-Palais
What is the population of Saint-Palais?
163 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (181).
How old are Saint-Palais’ residents?
The median age is 60, older than 98% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 40% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Palais?
47, with occasional dwellings: 25% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Palais?
INSEE counts 17 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 10% of residents, and 14 foreign nationals (8.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Palais?
€21,940 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 8, 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.