64% of homes are second homes, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
In the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%; Saint-Élie has 1.2%. At the 2023 Census Saint-Élie was home to 159 people in 21 households. Census figures put households without a car at 100% here. Lower than in 94% of compared French towns: 25% of households are one person living alone.
Throughout this page, the French Guiana 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-Élie
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 39 second homes and occasional dwellings in Saint-Élie, 64% of its 60 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 3.6% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 100 immigrants in Saint-Élie (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 77% of residents, against – for the median compared commune in French Guiana. 76% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Saint-Élie had 285 residents at the 2012 census and 159 in 2023, down 44%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
A young town
Half of Saint-Élie’s residents are under 38.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 6.2% are under 15 and 3.7% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
One home in two in Saint-Élie is a second home
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
Without a car: one household in two, against 11% in the median compared French town. Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Slower than most: −44% since 2012, behind 99% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% for the median French Guiana town, the change came in two steps: −15% from 2012 to 2017, then −34% to 2023.
Saint-Élie ranks below 99% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 3.7%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Élie 38.6. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Saint-Élie is 38.6, lower than in 86% of compared French towns. Across Saint-Élie, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24. As a yardstick, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
27% women, 73% men
About 38 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: France 51.8%.
21 households; 25% are one person
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 French Guiana median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 3.7 people. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
The largest group of households: others not working (50%)
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 manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Saint-Élie: 77% of residents are immigrants, above 99% 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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, just over three quarters of residents are foreign nationals in Saint-Élie. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 60% of residents 15 and over are married
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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, a fifth of residents 15 and over are single in Saint-Élie. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
Graduates of higher education: 6.2%, a lower 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
79% of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
The 2nd youngest of 41 French towns of 159 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
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-Élie
What is the population of Saint-Élie?
159 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 44% fewer than in 2012 (285).
How old are Saint-Élie’s residents?
The median age is 38.6, younger than 86% of compared French towns. 8.7% are under 18 and 3.7% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Élie?
39, with occasional dwellings: 64% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Élie?
INSEE counts 120 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 77% of residents, and 120 foreign nationals (76%). 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.