Above 95% of compared French towns: 34% of homes are second homes
One-person households make up 23%, against 35% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census Saint-Denis was home to 296 people in 140 households. 2.6% of households have no car. Few places have so few residents aged 15 to 24: 6.8% here, fewer than in 98% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Gard 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-Denis
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 78 second homes and occasional dwellings in Saint-Denis, 34% of its 230 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 93% 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 Saint-Denis’ residents are under 52.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 4.3% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Below 91% of compared French towns: 7.7% of homes are flats
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 that moved in under two years ago: 7.6%. Those in their home 30 years or more: 18%. Empty homes are rarer here than in 59% of compared French towns.
A growing town: +12% since 2012, faster than 74% 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 +11%, then +1% to 2023. Over those years, the median Gard town changed +7% and the median compared French town +5%.
Older than 90% of compared French towns: half of Saint-Denis is over 52.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Denis 52.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 30% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 22%.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Gard 51.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A smaller share of single-parent households than 99% of compared French towns: 3.5%
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 Gard median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2.2 people. The usual figure: 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Fewer couples with children than in nearly three fifths of compared French towns: 24%.
Median living standard: €23,570 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 €23,570 a year: lower than in 76% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a retired person than 97% of compared French towns, at 49%
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
Nearly a fifth of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. At the same time, fewer households headed by a manager or professional than in 69% of compared French towns: 6.8%. Elsewhere, 32% 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).
Foreign nationals: 7.1%, a higher share than 70% 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.
7.8% of residents are immigrants; in the typical compared French town the figure is 6.5%. Foreign nationals make up 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share higher than in nearly three fifths of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Gard has 6.6%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
56% of residents 15 and over are married, more 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
The share of single residents is 17%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Saint-Denis sits below 85% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (20%)
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
The share of adults with no qualification trails 64% of compared French towns: 17%. Typically, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 8th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Around Saint-Denis, 2 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Denis | 52.8 | 30% | 34% | 7.8% |
| Saint-Ambroix 3,445 · 3 mi | 56.1 | 37% | 7.8% | 5% |
| Rousson 4,456 · 6.2 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 1.8% | 4.1% |
| Salindres 3,648 · 6.3 mi | 44.6 | 23% | 2.2% | 4% |
| Saint-Julien-les-Rosiers 3,533 · 8.2 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Bessèges 2,606 · 8.3 mi | 59.4 | 40% | 9.6% | 4.7% |
| Saint-Privat-des-Vieux 5,703 · 8.8 mi | 49.9 | 28% | 1.7% | 4.2% |
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-Denis
What is the population of Saint-Denis?
296 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% more than in 2012 (265).
How old are Saint-Denis’ residents?
The median age is 52.8, older than 90% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Denis?
78, with occasional dwellings: 34% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Denis?
INSEE counts 23 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.8% of residents, and 21 foreign nationals (7.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Denis?
€23,570 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.