A median age of 53.1: Sainte-Valière is older than 91% of compared French towns
4.7% of homes are flats; in the typical compared French town the figure is 30%. Census day 2023: 534 residents and 260 households in Sainte-Valière. Households without a car: 4.6% of the total. Compared with other places, single-parent households are common here: 14%, more than in 94% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Aude 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 Sainte-Valière
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 61 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sainte-Valière, 17% of its 360 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 98% 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 Sainte-Valière’s residents are under 53.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 6.3% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Sainte-Valière had 557 residents at the 2012 census and 534 in 2023, down 4%: slower growth than in 85% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More second homes than 92% of compared French towns: 17%
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
In Sainte-Valière, 4.7% of households rent social housing (HLM), beside 12% in the typical compared French town. The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Census figures put empty homes at 11% here.
−4% since 2012: slower than 85% 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 same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Aude town +4%.
6.9% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 97% 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
■ Sainte-Valière 53.1. The median compared French town: 44.
30% of Sainte-Valière’s residents are 65 or older, against 29% in the median Aude town and 22% in the median compared French town; 19% are under 18. Set beside that, 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: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Below 84% of compared French towns: 17% of households are couples with children
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 Aude median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2 people. At 32%, the share of one-person households is lower than in 67% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, couples with children come to 25%.
Median living standard: €23,400 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 €23,400 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
Sainte-Valière sits above 78% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (38%)
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
7.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Census figures put households headed by a manual worker at 14% in Sainte-Valière.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Sainte-Valière 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.
By its share of immigrants (8.7%), Sainte-Valière is above 64% of compared French towns. For comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
Sainte-Valière: 48% of residents 15 and over are married, above 83% 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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Sainte-Valière comes in at 22%. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Adults with no qualification make up 13% in Sainte-Valière, less than in 82% 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
28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). The comparison figure for adults with no qualification is 19% in the typical compared French town.
7th highest median age among 41 French towns of 534 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Every neighbor is younger than Sainte-Valière
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Valière | 53.1 | 30% | 17% | 8.7% |
| Sallèles-d'Aude 3,179 · 5.2 mi | 45.8 | 23% | 9.3% | 6.1% |
| Ouveillan 2,713 · 6.5 mi | 44.5 | 25% | 7.3% | 5.8% |
| Lézignan-Corbières 10,343 · 6.7 mi | 48.3 | 30% | 3% | 7.8% |
| Cuxac-d'Aude 4,079 · 8 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 4% | 5.2% |
| Narbonne 57,587 · 10.2 mi | 46.4 | 27% | 18% | 10% |
| Capestang 3,514 · 10.8 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 8.6% | 9% |
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 Sainte-Valière
What is the population of Sainte-Valière?
534 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (557).
How old are Sainte-Valière’s residents?
The median age is 53.1, older than 91% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Valière?
61, with occasional dwellings: 17% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Valière?
INSEE counts 47 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.7% of residents, and 35 foreign nationals (6.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Valière?
€23,400 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.