Above 97% of compared French towns: 16% of homes stand empty
With a median age of 50.3, Saint-Vaury is older than 84% of compared French towns. The census found that just over two in five households are one person living alone locally. The town is home to 1,718 residents in 840 households, by the 2023 Census. Flats: 12% here and 30% in the typical compared French town.
Throughout this page, the Creuse 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-Vaury
Empty homes
The census found 180 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Saint-Vaury had 1,799 residents at the 2012 census and 1,718 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 86% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −5% since 2012, behind 86% 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 years 2012 to 2017 brought −3%; 2017 to 2023, −2%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 28%, a higher share than 80% 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-Vaury 50.3. The median compared French town: 44.
9.7% of residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Creuse 52.8%, France 51.8%.
Saint-Vaury sits below 80% of compared French towns for couples with children (19%)
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 Creuse median and the France median
Living alone · share
Here 7.7% of households are single parents, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 10%. The wider picture: a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 1.9 people.
A higher share of second homes than 79% of compared French towns, at 5.6%
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
Turnover: nearly one in ten households moved in less than two years ago, and 29% have lived in their home 30 years or more. Measured more widely, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. At 11%, the share of households in social housing is lower than in 56% of compared French towns. What’s more, the share of households without a car trails 52% of compared French towns: 10%.
Median living standard: €24,760 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.
Living standards centre on €24,760 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 63% of compared French towns.
Above 82% of compared French towns: 39% 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
In Saint-Vaury, just over one in ten households are headed by a manual worker, beside 14% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Census figures put households headed by a manager or professional at 5.9% in the town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 3.6% of residents are immigrants in Saint-Vaury
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.
Foreign nationals make up 3.1%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 76% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Creuse has 7.6%. To put it in context, 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.
In Saint-Vaury, 39% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 74% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%; Saint-Vaury has 27%. To put it in context, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 66% of compared French towns: 26%
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
For Saint-Vaury, the census puts adults with no qualification at 19%. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 1,718 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Median age: 2 of the 3 towns around Saint-Vaury 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-Vaury | 50.3 | 28% | 5.6% | 3.6% |
| Guéret 12,955 · 6 mi | 46.4 | 26% | 4.5% | 8.6% |
| Sainte-Feyre 2,566 · 8.2 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 5% | 2.4% |
| La Souterraine 4,978 · 13 mi | 51.4 | 33% | 5.6% | 8.8% |
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-Vaury
What is the population of Saint-Vaury?
1,718 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (1,799).
How old are Saint-Vaury’s residents?
The median age is 50.3, older than 84% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Vaury?
61, with occasional dwellings: 5.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Vaury?
INSEE counts 63 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.6% of residents, and 53 foreign nationals (3.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Vaury?
€24,760 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.