A smaller share of flats than 99% of compared French towns: 1.9%
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 7.3% of residents are 15 to 24 in Saint-Palais. 3.9% of households have no car, fewer than in 95% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 527, in 230 households. For Saint-Palais, the census puts households headed by a manual worker at 21%.
Throughout this page, the Gironde 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.
From 2012 to 2023, 53% of compared French towns grew faster than Saint-Palais: +4%
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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Gironde town +16%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was ±0%; from 2017 to 2023, +4%.
Saint-Palais is older than 72% of compared French towns: a median age of 47.6
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Palais 47.6. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 23%.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 111 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Gironde 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Fewer one-person households than 83% of compared French towns: 28%
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 Gironde median and the France median
Living alone · share
In the typical compared French town, one in ten households are single parents; in Saint-Palais, 8.5%. Measured more widely, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. 25% of households are couples with children, or about one in four.
Saint-Palais: 6.9% of homes are second homes, above 83% 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 in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, second homes come to 2.1%. Newcomers of less than two years account for 9.3% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 24%.
Median living standard: €24,180 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.
The median standard of living in Saint-Palais is €24,180 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 69% of compared French towns.
4.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 91% 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
Roughly three in ten: nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person. Across the comparison, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Saint-Palais ranks below 69% of compared French towns on immigrants: 4.4%
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 Saint-Palais, 4% of residents are foreign nationals. By way of 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.
19% of residents 15 and over are single, below 96% 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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 48% in Saint-Palais. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 92% of compared French towns: 18%
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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Saint-Palais comes in at 18%. As a reference point, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
15th highest median age among 41 French towns of 527 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).
Saint-Palais and its 6 nearest towns: 3 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Palais | 47.6 | 23% | 6.9% | 4.4% |
| Saint-Ciers-sur-Gironde 3,175 · 1.6 mi | 49.2 | 29% | 4.4% | 3.1% |
| Montendre 3,222 · 9.6 mi | 56.2 | 37% | 6.9% | 4% |
| Pauillac 5,190 · 10.9 mi | 44 | 22% | 3% | 23% |
| Jonzac 3,602 · 12.2 mi | 54 | 36% | 26% | 5.1% |
| Blaye 5,066 · 12.9 mi | 45.8 | 25% | 4.3% | 5.5% |
| Saint-Savin 3,582 · 13.6 mi | 40.7 | 19% | 1.7% | 3.9% |
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-Palais
What is the population of Saint-Palais?
527 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (506).
How old are Saint-Palais’ residents?
The median age is 47.6, older than 72% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Palais?
18, with occasional dwellings: 6.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Palais?
INSEE counts 23 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.4% of residents, and 21 foreign nationals (4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Palais?
€24,180 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 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.