Photo: Enrevseluj · CC BY-SA 4.0Capesterre-Belle-Eau: 18% of homes stand empty, above 99% of compared French towns
With a median age of 49.8, Capesterre-Belle-Eau is older than 83% of compared French towns. Households headed by a manager or professional: 3.5% of the total. At the 2023 Census, 17,684 people lived here, in 8,250 households. In the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households is 10%; Capesterre-Belle-Eau has 24%.
Throughout this page, the Guadeloupe 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 Capesterre-Belle-Eau
Fewer residents than in 2012
Capesterre-Belle-Eau had 19,407 residents at the 2012 census and 17,684 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 1,900 homes empty (18%): 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 than most: −9% since 2012, behind 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 years 2012 to 2017 brought −6%; 2017 to 2023, −3%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Guadeloupe town ±0%.
26% of residents are 65 or over, a share 72% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Capesterre-Belle-Eau 49.8. The median compared French town: 44.
About one in nine: that is how common residents aged 15 to 24 are in Capesterre-Belle-Eau (11%). Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Capesterre-Belle-Eau, 18% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 82% 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 Guadeloupe median and the France median
Living alone · share
In Capesterre-Belle-Eau, 40% of households are one person living alone, beside 35% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. On average, 2.1 people share a household.
Capesterre-Belle-Eau ranks above 98% of compared French towns on households without a car: 37%
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
Just over one in ten homes are flats; in the typical compared French town the figure is 30%. For Capesterre-Belle-Eau, the census puts households in social housing at 7.3%. The town has more second homes than 57% of compared French towns, at 2.6%.
Above 56% of compared French towns: 15% of households are headed by a manual worker
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
Households headed by a retired person account for 33%. As a yardstick, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A larger share of foreign nationals than 81% of compared French towns: 9.9%
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.
Immigrants make up a share higher than in 65% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Guadeloupe has –. The share of foreign nationals in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. On the census count, nearly one in ten residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
48% of residents 15 and over are single, 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
Here 30% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
Adults with no qualification: 41%, a higher share than 99% 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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 16% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Capesterre-Belle-Eau. Across the comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
3rd highest median age among 41 French towns of 17,060 to 18,300
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
L'Isle-d'Abeau is the youngest (33.3); Montceau-les-Mines the oldest (50.2).
Nearby, 1 of 6 towns have older populations than Capesterre-Belle-Eau
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capesterre-Belle-Eau | 49.8 | 26% | 2.6% | 8.8% |
| Goyave 7,565 · 6.3 mi | 43.1 | 19% | 4% | 6.5% |
| Trois-Rivières 7,415 · 7 mi | 52.2 | 27% | 4.6% | 3.7% |
| Saint-Claude 10,177 · 8.8 mi | 48 | 24% | 3.3% | 4.3% |
| Gourbeyre 7,307 · 9.1 mi | 49.6 | 24% | 5.4% | 4% |
| Petit-Bourg 24,665 · 10.4 mi | 44.3 | 19% | 6.7% | 3.5% |
| Basse-Terre 9,417 · 11.6 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 1.2% | 8.2% |
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 Capesterre-Belle-Eau
What is the population of Capesterre-Belle-Eau?
17,684 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (19,407).
How old are Capesterre-Belle-Eau’s residents?
The median age is 49.8, older than 83% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Capesterre-Belle-Eau?
270, with occasional dwellings: 2.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Capesterre-Belle-Eau?
INSEE counts 1,560 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.8% of residents, and 1,740 foreign nationals (9.9%). 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 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.