A median age of 52.9: Saint-Désir is older than 91% of compared French towns
Where 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Saint-Désir has 6.1%. Lower than in 99% of compared French towns: 2.2% of homes are flats. The town had 1,756 residents in 740 households at the 2023 census. Households without a car account for 5.7%.
Throughout this page, the Calvados 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-Désir
An older town
Half of Saint-Désir’s residents are under 52.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Faster growth than 59% of compared French towns: Saint-Désir changed by +7% since 2012
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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +1% for the median Calvados town, the change came in two steps: +4% from 2012 to 2017, then +3% to 2023.
Residents aged 65 and over: 33%, a higher share than 91% 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-Désir 52.9. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (8.3%), Saint-Désir is below 90% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Calvados 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households: 27%, a lower share than 88% 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 Calvados median and the France median
Living alone · share
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, 27% of households are couples with children here. The usual figure: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. There are 2.3 people in the average household.
Below 68% of compared French towns: 8.6% of households rent social housing (HLM)
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
3.5% of homes are second homes; in the typical compared French town the figure is 2.1%. In the typical compared French town, households in social housing come to 12%. Empty homes: 4.9% of the total.
The median resident lives on €26,400 a year per consumption unit
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.
The median standard of living in Saint-Désir is €26,400 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 55% of compared French towns.
Saint-Désir ranks above 83% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 40%
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
16% of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. Set beside that, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manager or professional account for 6.7%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.7% of residents are foreign nationals, below 84% 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 share of immigrants trails nearly three quarters of compared French towns: 3.9%. Foreign nationals: 4.3% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
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 96% of compared French towns: 19%
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
Half of residents 15 and over are married (typical compared French town: 43%). The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 60% of compared French towns, at 27%
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
The share of adults with no qualification stands at 20%. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 8th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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.
Saint-Désir and its 6 nearest towns: 1 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Désir | 52.9 | 33% | 3.5% | 3.9% |
| Lisieux 19,645 · 1.4 mi | 47 | 28% | 2.1% | 6.2% |
| Livarot-Pays-d'Auge 6,207 · 9.1 mi | 46.1 | 25% | 16% | 2.2% |
| Pont-l'Évêque 5,145 · 10.1 mi | 47.7 | 28% | 4.2% | 2.2% |
| Mézidon Vallée d'Auge 9,766 · 12.3 mi | 40.9 | 20% | 6.8% | 1.8% |
| Saint-Pierre-en-Auge 7,100 · 13 mi | 49.7 | 29% | 7.8% | 2.8% |
| Vimoutiers 2,978 · 14.9 mi | 60.1 | 43% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
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-Désir
What is the population of Saint-Désir?
1,756 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (1,640).
How old are Saint-Désir’s residents?
The median age is 52.9, older than 91% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Désir?
28, with occasional dwellings: 3.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Désir?
INSEE counts 68 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.9% of residents, and 29 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Désir?
€26,400 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 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.