Flats: 1.1%, a lower share than 99% of compared French towns
Households headed by a manager or professional: 22%, above 91% of compared French towns. Sainte-Marie counted 386 residents and 160 households at the 2023 Census. One-person households: just over a quarter of the total. The median age here is 47.6, higher than in 73% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Gers 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 407 residents at the 2012 census and 386 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 22 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 88% of compared French towns: Sainte-Marie changed by −5% since 2012
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
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 8.5% in Sainte-Marie, less than in 88% 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 47.6. The median compared French town: 44.
On the census count, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Gers 52.4%, France 51.8%.
Sainte-Marie: 16% of households are single parents, above 97% 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 Gers median and the France median
Living alone · share
A quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, against 30% in Sainte-Marie. The comparison figure for single-parent households is 10% in the typical compared French town. Each household has 2.3 people on average.
12% of homes stand empty, more than in 86% of compared French towns
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 without a car are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Newcomers of less than two years account for 8.4% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 19%. 2.6% of homes are second homes, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €26,850 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.
Living standards centre on €26,850 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 60% of compared French towns.
19% of households are headed by a retired person, below 96% 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 Sainte-Marie, 12% of households are headed by a manual worker, beside 14% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town: 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Sainte-Marie ranks below 63% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 3.1%
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.
Locally, 6% of residents are immigrants. That is lower than in 55% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Gers has 7.9%. On average, 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.
Only 18% of residents 15 and over are single in Sainte-Marie
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%; Sainte-Marie has 50%. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
10% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 95% 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
Nearly two in five adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). The benchmark for adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town: 19%.
15th highest median age among 41 French towns of 386 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Sainte-Marie sits below 4 of its 6 closest neighbors on 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Marie | 47.6 | 21% | 2.6% | 6% |
| Gimont 3,146 · 3.4 mi | 47.9 | 28% | 2.9% | 4.6% |
| L'Isle-Jourdain 9,537 · 11.5 mi | 42.9 | 20% | 2.8% | 6.8% |
| Samatan 2,517 · 12.6 mi | 50.3 | 30% | 7.3% | 3.1% |
| Auch 22,428 · 14.2 mi | 46.8 | 27% | 3% | 12% |
| Pavie 2,566 · 14.8 mi | 51.9 | 31% | 1.7% | 5.8% |
| Beaumont-de-Lomagne 3,824 · 15.7 mi | 51.3 | 31% | 3.6% | 6.1% |
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-Marie
What is the population of Sainte-Marie?
386 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (407).
How old are Sainte-Marie’s residents?
The median age is 47.6, older than 73% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Marie?
5, with occasional dwellings: 2.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Marie?
INSEE counts 23 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6% of residents, and 12 foreign nationals (3.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Marie?
€26,850 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 8, 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.