A median age of 55: Sainte-Soline is older than 94% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Sainte-Soline’s 170 households held 343 residents at the 2023 Census. Across Sainte-Soline, 0.4% of homes are flats. Where 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, Sainte-Soline has 19%.
Throughout this page, the Deux-Sèvres 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-Soline
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 58 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sainte-Soline, 23% of its 260 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Sainte-Soline’s residents are under 55 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% 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.
Sainte-Soline sits below 99% of compared French towns for households without a car (1.2%)
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
By its share of empty homes (9.4%), Sainte-Soline is above three quarters of compared French towns. As a yardstick, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town. Census figures put second homes at 23% here.
Sainte-Soline changed by +2% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 62% 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 +6%, then −4% to 2023. Over those years, the median Deux-Sèvres town changed +1% and the median compared French town +5%.
In Sainte-Soline, 6.7% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 98% 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-Soline 55. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 22%; Sainte-Soline has 33%. Typically, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Deux-Sèvres 51.4%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 8.8%, a lower share than 69% 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 Deux-Sèvres median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2 people in the average household. In the typical compared French town, 10% of households are single parents. Set against 35% in the typical compared French town, just over a third of households are one person living alone in Sainte-Soline.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €22,310 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €22,310 a year: lower than in 87% of compared French towns.
Below 98% of compared French towns: 2.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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
12% of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%. Households headed by a retired person: 36% of the total.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Sainte-Soline ranks above 85% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 11%
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-Soline, 11%. Immigrants make up a share higher than in three quarters of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Deux-Sèvres has 3.7%. Against that, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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 Sainte-Soline, 15% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 99% 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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 54% in Sainte-Soline. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
In Sainte-Soline, 25% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 76% of compared French towns
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
By its share of graduates of higher education (23%), Sainte-Soline is below 74% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (343 to 2,582 people), the 6th 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 Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Sainte-Soline is younger than 1 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Soline | 55 | 33% | 23% | 11% |
| Valence-en-Poitou 4,325 · 8.3 mi | 47.2 | 26% | 7.7% | 2.8% |
| Melle 5,752 · 9.7 mi | 53.8 | 33% | 4.3% | 3.7% |
| Rouillé 2,533 · 11 mi | 42.6 | 22% | 2.9% | 2% |
| Lusignan 2,544 · 12.7 mi | 51.7 | 32% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| Celles-sur-Belle 3,829 · 13.1 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| Civray 2,522 · 14.1 mi | 61 | 43% | 8.7% | 5.1% |
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-Soline
What is the population of Sainte-Soline?
343 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (337).
How old are Sainte-Soline’s residents?
The median age is 55, older than 94% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Soline?
58, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Soline?
INSEE counts 38 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 38 foreign nationals (11%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Soline?
€22,310 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.