Fewer couples with children than 93% of compared French towns: 14%
With a median age of 49.8, Saint-Michel is older than just over four fifths of compared French towns. Roughly two in ten: nearly a fifth of households are headed by a manual worker. Its 1,550 households held 3,196 residents at the 2023 Census. Compared with 12% in the typical compared French town, 16% of households rent social housing (HLM) here.
Throughout this page, the Charente 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-Michel
Many people living alone
49% of Saint-Michel’s households are one person: higher than in 91% of compared French towns; 28% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−3% since 2012, a pace below 80% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −2%, and from 2017 to 2023 −1%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Charente town +1%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 90% of compared French towns: 32%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Michel 49.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Locally, 11% of residents are 15 to 24. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
49% of households are one person living alone, a share 91% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 1.9 people each. Compared with other places, single-parent households are common here: 13%, more than in 87% of compared French towns. On average, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Flats make up 34% in Saint-Michel, more than in 56% 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
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car in Saint-Michel comes in at 12%. The comparison figure for flats is 30% in the typical compared French town. About one in 42: that is how common second homes are in Saint-Michel (2.4%). Few places have as many empty homes: 7.2% here, more than in 56% of compared French towns.
At the median, €23,490 a year to live on
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.
Half of residents live in households above €23,490 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 77% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 16.0% of residents.
A lower share of households headed by a manager or professional than 72% of compared French towns, at 6.4%
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
Households headed by a retired person make up 29%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Against that, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
More immigrants than 61% of compared French towns: 8.2%
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.
With foreign nationals at 5.8%, Saint-Michel is ahead of 63% of compared French towns on that count. The median compared commune in Charente has 4.8%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 61% of compared French towns. For comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
Fewer married residents than 95% of compared French towns: 32%
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 the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%; Saint-Michel has 32%. On average, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 69% of compared French towns: 25%
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
Where nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Saint-Michel has 22%. As a reference point, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (3,175 to 3,215 people), the 14th 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 Salomé (38.2), the oldest Meschers-sur-Gironde (66.1).
No nearby town is as old as Saint-Michel
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Michel | 49.8 | 32% | 2.4% | 8.2% |
| Fléac 3,861 · 2.2 mi | 49.1 | 26% | 0.5% | 3.9% |
| La Couronne 7,765 · 2.2 mi | 43.8 | 22% | 2.1% | 6.3% |
| Angoulême 41,908 · 2.4 mi | 39.9 | 21% | 3.1% | 11% |
| Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente 7,539 · 2.5 mi | 47.5 | 28% | 1.5% | 5.6% |
| Gond-Pontouvre 5,862 · 3.6 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 1.7% | 5.5% |
| Soyaux 10,087 · 4 mi | 42 | 23% | 1.5% | 16% |
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-Michel
What is the population of Saint-Michel?
3,196 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (3,279).
How old are Saint-Michel’s residents?
The median age is 49.8, older than 82% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Michel?
42, with occasional dwellings: 2.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Michel?
INSEE counts 260 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.2% of residents, and 190 foreign nationals (5.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Michel?
€23,490 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.0% 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.