A median age of 53.2: Sainte-Marie is older than 91% of compared French towns
With households without a car at 3%, Sainte-Marie is behind 99% of compared French towns on that count. At the 2023 Census Sainte-Marie was home to 648 people in 300 households. Locally, 51% of households are headed by a retired person. Fewer flats than in 97% of compared French towns: 4.2%.
Throughout this page, the Doubs 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-Marie
Fewer residents than in 2012
Sainte-Marie had 736 residents at the 2012 census and 648 in 2023, down 12%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Sainte-Marie’s residents are under 53.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 6.9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 98% of compared French towns grew faster than Sainte-Marie: −12%
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 −7%; 2017 to 2023, −5%.
In Sainte-Marie, 30% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 86% 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-Marie 53.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 8.6% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%.
Fewer single-parent households than 99% of compared French towns: 1.6%
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 Doubs median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2.1 people. Measured more widely, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. 31% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 70% of compared French towns. Couples with children are about as common here as in the typical compared French town: 25%.
More empty homes than 61% of compared French towns: 7.8%
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. For comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. 1.2% of homes are second homes.
Median standard of living: €29,350 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.
Half of Sainte-Marie’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €29,350 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 81% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker make up 7.9% in Sainte-Marie, less than in 88% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4%; Sainte-Marie has 13%. Typically, 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).
Below 95% of compared French towns: 1.7% of residents are immigrants
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: 0.8% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Doubs has 8.5%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 95% of compared French towns. On average, 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.
Sainte-Marie sits below 99% of compared French towns for single residents (15%)
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
Married residents: 55%, above 99% of compared French towns. On average, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 57% of compared French towns: 28%
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
18% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 56% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 7th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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).
Every neighbor is younger than Sainte-Marie
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Marie | 53.2 | 30% | 1.2% | 1.7% |
| Bavans 3,582 · 2.4 mi | 48.9 | 26% | 0.9% | 5.1% |
| Voujeaucourt 3,174 · 4.1 mi | 47.4 | 23% | 0.7% | 6% |
| Montbéliard 24,672 · 4.6 mi | 41.2 | 24% | 2.5% | 20% |
| Bethoncourt 5,308 · 5.1 mi | 41.1 | 23% | 0.8% | 24% |
| Héricourt 10,621 · 5.4 mi | 45.5 | 24% | 1% | 8.8% |
| Grand-Charmont 5,873 · 6 mi | 39.2 | 21% | 0.5% | 18% |
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-Marie
What is the population of Sainte-Marie?
648 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% fewer than in 2012 (736).
How old are Sainte-Marie’s residents?
The median age is 53.2, older than 91% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Marie?
4, with occasional dwellings: 1.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Marie?
INSEE counts 11 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.7% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Marie?
€29,350 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.