Saône ranks below 72% of compared French towns on households in social housing: 7.7%
0.7% of homes are second homes (typical compared French town: 2.1%). On the census count, 7.9% of households have no car. With a median age of 46.1, Saône is older than 64% of compared French towns. The town had 3,195 residents in 1,440 households at the 2023 census.
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.
A change of −3% since 2012 leaves Saône behind 82% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and −1% for the median Doubs town, the change came in two steps: +2% from 2012 to 2017, then −5% to 2023.
24% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 61% 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
■ Saône 46.1. The median compared French town: 44.
On residents aged 15 to 24, 11% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Doubs 51.3%, France 51.8%.
Saône: 11% of households are single parents, above 65% 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 Doubs median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 2.2 people on average. 34% of households are one person living alone, a lower share than in 56% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Nothing unusual on couples with children: 25%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Saône ranks above 55% of compared French towns on flats: 33%
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 13, where the median compared French town has 11%. 10% of households arrived within the last two years, while 22% have stayed 30 years or more. Empty homes are rarer here than in 62% of compared French towns.
Standard of living at the median: €28,840 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 €28,840 a year: higher than in 77% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 8.0% of residents are below the line.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 12%, a higher share than 65% 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
Set against 14% in the typical compared French town, 12% of households are headed by a manual worker in Saône. In the typical compared French town, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional. Households headed by a retired person: a third of the total.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
3.3% of residents are immigrants, below 80% 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 Saône, 1.6% of residents are foreign nationals, beside 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up 6.5% 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.
Only 23% of residents 15 and over are single in Saône
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
With married residents at 45%, Saône is ahead of 64% of compared French towns on that count. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
More graduates of higher education than 66% of compared French towns: 35%
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
At 18%, the share of adults with no qualification is lower than in 55% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 17th youngest 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.
Ages run from 38.2 in Salomé to 66.1 in Meschers-sur-Gironde.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 3 are older than Saône
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saône | 46.1 | 24% | 0.7% | 3.3% |
| Thise 2,994 · 4.6 mi | 53.1 | 34% | 0.8% | 3.6% |
| Besançon 118,489 · 5 mi | 35.6 | 19% | 2.5% | 15% |
| École-Valentin 2,579 · 7 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 1.6% | 6.1% |
| Miserey-Salines 2,661 · 8 mi | 42.7 | 24% | 0.9% | 4.6% |
| Ornans 4,419 · 8.1 mi | 48.5 | 28% | 5.8% | 5.3% |
| Les Auxons 2,533 · 9.2 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 0.7% | 3.7% |
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 Saône
What is the population of Saône?
3,195 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (3,301).
How old are Saône’s residents?
The median age is 46.1, older than 64% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saône?
11, with occasional dwellings: 0.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saône?
INSEE counts 100 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.3% of residents, and 52 foreign nationals (1.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saône?
€28,840 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 8.0% 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 October 30, 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.