A median age of 62.3: Île-de-Sein is older than 99% of compared French towns
Just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town, against 60% in Île-de-Sein. This Finistère town had 263 residents in 180 households at the 2023 Census. Census figures put couples with children at 8.5% here. Flats are rarer here than in 85% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Finistère 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 Île-de-Sein
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 190 second homes and occasional dwellings in Île-de-Sein, 48% of its 400 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 91% 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 Île-de-Sein’s residents are under 62.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 44% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
62% of Île-de-Sein’s households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 55% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Growing fast
Île-de-Sein had 203 residents at the 2012 census and 263 in 2023, up 30%: faster growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Île-de-Sein sits above 97% of compared French towns for second homes (48%)
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: 7% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 28% have lived in their home 30 years or more. Fewer households in social housing than in 64% of compared French towns: 9.3%. The comparison figure for second homes is 2.1% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 6.7% of homes stand empty; in Île-de-Sein, 8.1%.
Île-de-Sein grew +30% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 96% 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 change was +23% from 2012 to 2017 and +6% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Finistère town +4%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 99% of compared French towns: 44%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Île-de-Sein 62.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 3.9% of residents are 15 to 24 here. For comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Finistère 51.7%, France 51.8%.
Île-de-Sein: 62% of households are one person living alone, above 99% 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 Finistère median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 1.5 people on average. Few places have so few single-parent households: 2.9% here, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 99% of compared French towns: 60%
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
7.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional; in the typical compared French town the figure is 9.4%. Against that, nearly a third 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).
Only 1% of residents are immigrants in Île-de-Sein
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.
The share of foreign nationals trails 93% of compared French towns: 1%. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Finistère has 2.4%. For comparison, 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.
Île-de-Sein sits below 89% of compared French towns for married residents (35%)
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
By its share of single residents (28%), Île-de-Sein is above 67% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
21% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 84% 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
Census figures put adults with no qualification at 18% in Île-de-Sein. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
2nd highest median age among 41 French towns of 263 to 2,582
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.
No nearby town is as old as Île-de-Sein
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Île-de-Sein
What is the population of Île-de-Sein?
263 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 30% more than in 2012 (203).
How old are Île-de-Sein’s residents?
The median age is 62.3, older than 99% of compared French towns. 5.2% are under 18 and 44% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Île-de-Sein?
190, with occasional dwellings: 48% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Île-de-Sein?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.