Older than 84% of compared French towns: half of Sainte-Sévère is over 50.2
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Sainte-Sévère’s population at 519, in 230 households. 6.6% of households have no car, or about one in 15. Set against 35% in the typical compared French town, 26% of households are one person living alone locally.
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 Sainte-Sévère
Fewer residents than in 2012
Sainte-Sévère had 546 residents at the 2012 census and 519 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Sainte-Sévère changed by −5% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 88% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −4%, then −1% to 2023.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 27% in Sainte-Sévère, more than in 77% 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-Sévère 50.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Sainte-Sévère has 8.7%. Measured more widely, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%.
More single-parent households than 61% of compared French towns: 11%
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
On average, 2.2 people share a household. Fewer couples with children than in 53% of compared French towns: 25%. By way of comparison, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
93% of homes are houses
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
Car-free households: one in 15, where the median compared French town has 11%. About one in 34: that is how common second homes are in Sainte-Sévère (2.9%). Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
At the median, €26,430 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.
The median standard of living in Sainte-Sévère is €26,430 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 55% of compared French towns.
Above 86% of compared French towns: 41% of households are headed by a retired person
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
Here nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 9.4%. Still, more households headed by a manual worker than in just over two thirds of compared French towns: 17%. Elsewhere, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Sainte-Sévère: 13% of residents are foreign nationals, above 90% 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.
In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants; in Sainte-Sévère, 14%. Typically, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share higher than in just over four fifths of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Charente has 4.8%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 95% of compared French towns: 51%
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
25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, against 22% in Sainte-Sévère. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 83% of compared French towns, at 21%
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, Sainte-Sévère has 25%. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (519 to 2,582 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 2 are older than Sainte-Sévère
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Sévère | 50.2 | 27% | 2.9% | 14% |
| Val-de-Cognac 3,471 · 6 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 3.9% | 3.1% |
| Jarnac 4,486 · 6.3 mi | 52.5 | 33% | 3.8% | 4.5% |
| Cognac 18,532 · 6.4 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 2.8% | 6.3% |
| Châteaubernard 3,878 · 6.6 mi | 49.5 | 29% | 1.9% | 4.8% |
| Rouillac 2,919 · 8.7 mi | 49.3 | 30% | 5.7% | 2.6% |
| Châteauneuf-sur-Charente 3,550 · 14.6 mi | 49.8 | 29% | 2.9% | 6.4% |
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 Sainte-Sévère
What is the population of Sainte-Sévère?
519 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (546).
How old are Sainte-Sévère’s residents?
The median age is 50.2, older than 84% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Sévère?
7, with occasional dwellings: 2.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Sévère?
INSEE counts 70 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 14% of residents, and 70 foreign nationals (13%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Sévère?
€26,430 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.