A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 99% of compared French towns: 1.6%
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 22%; Saales has 30%. For Saales, the census puts single-parent households at 16%. The town has more households without a car than 83% of compared French towns, at 20%. At the 2023 Census Saales was home to 826 people in 320 households.
Throughout this page, the Bas-Rhin 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 Saales
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 110 second homes and occasional dwellings in Saales, 22% of its 480 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 92% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Saales ranks above 94% of compared French towns on second homes: 22%
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 in ten homes stand empty (typical compared French town: 6.7%). On the census count, nearly a quarter of homes are flats. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Second homes: 2.1% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Slower than most: +1% since 2012, behind 67% 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
The median Bas-Rhin town changed +6% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +2% and the next six −1%.
Half of Saales is over 50.4, older than 84% 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
■ Saales 50.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Saales has 9.8%.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Bas-Rhin 51.5%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Couples with children: 22%, a lower share than 67% 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 Bas-Rhin median and the France median
Living alone · share
In the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households is 35%; Saales has 38%. For comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2.2 people each.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €24,710 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.
At €24,710 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 64% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker: 22%, a higher share than 89% 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
Against a figure of 32% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person in Saales comes in at 38%. On average, 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).
In Saales, 3.8% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 75% 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 median compared commune in Bas-Rhin has 8.5%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 75% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Foreign nationals make up about one in 43 here (2.3%).
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 married residents than 80% of compared French towns: 38%
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
In Saales, 28% of residents 15 and over are single, beside 25% in the typical compared French town. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
10% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 99% 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
Here 33% of adults out of school have no qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 19%. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Of 41 French towns its size (826 to 2,582 people), the 13th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Median age: 1 of the 6 towns around Saales are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saales | 50.4 | 30% | 22% | 3.8% |
| Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines 4,851 · 8.1 mi | 47.7 | 24% | 7.8% | 11% |
| Saint-Dié-des-Vosges 19,251 · 8.4 mi | 46.5 | 27% | 2.9% | 12% |
| Moyenmoutier 3,134 · 9.3 mi | 49.7 | 27% | 4.5% | 2.4% |
| La Broque 2,625 · 9.5 mi | 46.6 | 23% | 7.5% | 6.9% |
| Fraize 2,843 · 12.3 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 9.6% | 2.2% |
| Raon-l'Étape 5,886 · 12.6 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 2.8% | 4.4% |
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 Saales
What is the population of Saales?
826 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (820).
How old are Saales’ residents?
The median age is 50.4, older than 84% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saales?
110, with occasional dwellings: 22% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saales?
INSEE counts 31 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.8% of residents, and 19 foreign nationals (2.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saales?
€24,710 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.