A smaller share of couples with children than 99% of compared French towns: 11%
The share of households without a car tops 81% of compared French towns: 19%. 25,363 residents in 14,100 households: that is Saintes at the 2023 Census. Here, two in five households are headed by a retired person. On flats, Saintes sits higher than nearly two thirds of compared French towns: 41%.
Throughout this page, the Charente-Maritime 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 Saintes
Many people living alone
53% of Saintes’ households are one person: higher than in 97% of compared French towns; 42% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
An older town
Half of Saintes’ residents are under 52.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −1% since 2012, behind 74% 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 Charente-Maritime town changed +8% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −1% and the next six ±0%.
Older than 89% of compared French towns: half of Saintes is over 52.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saintes 52.1. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over tops 90% of compared French towns: 32%. For Saintes, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 11%.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 81 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente-Maritime 53.1%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
53% of households are one person living alone, more than in 97% 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 Charente-Maritime median and the France median
Living alone · share
The typical household size is 1.7 people. The share of one-person households in the typical compared French town is 35%. Here, 10% of households are single parents.
Households in social housing make up 16% in Saintes, more than in 64% 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
6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, against 8.6% in Saintes. More second homes than in 58% of compared French towns: 2.7%. For comparison, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 15% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 15%.
€24,560 a year is the median standard of living here
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 €24,560 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 65% of compared French towns. 17.9% of residents live below the poverty line INSEE uses.
Households headed by a manual worker make up 10% in Saintes, less than in 74% 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
The census found that nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in Saintes. Set beside that, 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).
Fewer immigrants than 59% of compared French towns: 5.5%
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 Charente-Maritime has 3.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 59% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants. Here, 4.1% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 34% in Saintes, less than in 93% 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
Single residents: 30%, above 79% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Above 53% of compared French towns: 20% of adults out of school have no 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
30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, or about one in three. As a reference point, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (24,022 to 26,658 people), the 3rd 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.
The youngest is Brétigny-sur-Orge (34.9), the oldest Biarritz (55.2).
Median age: 1 of the 6 towns around Saintes 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saintes | 52.1 | 32% | 2.7% | 5.5% |
| Chaniers 3,651 · 3.7 mi | 50.9 | 29% | 4% | 2% |
| Saint-Georges-des-Coteaux 2,843 · 4 mi | 51.3 | 30% | 2.4% | 2.1% |
| Pons 4,343 · 12.2 mi | 50.3 | 30% | 3.1% | 7.1% |
| Gémozac 3,052 · 12.4 mi | 51.9 | 32% | 7.4% | 3.1% |
| Val-de-Cognac 3,471 · 13.1 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 3.9% | 3.1% |
| Saint-Jean-d'Angély 6,784 · 14.9 mi | 56 | 36% | 4.6% | 4.5% |
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 Saintes
What is the population of Saintes?
25,363 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% fewer than in 2012 (25,645).
How old are Saintes’ residents?
The median age is 52.1, older than 89% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saintes?
420, with occasional dwellings: 2.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saintes?
INSEE counts 1,390 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.5% of residents, and 1,040 foreign nationals (4.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saintes?
€24,560 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 17.9% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.