Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is younger than 99% of compared French towns: a median age of 18.6
Households without a car: 53% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. 54,429 residents in 12,970 households: that is Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni at the 2023 Census. Single-parent households: 44% of the total. The town has more households in social housing than 78% of compared French towns, at 20%.
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-Laurent-du-Maroni
A young town
Half of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni’s residents are under 18.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 42% are under 15 and 3.2% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 14,600 immigrants in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 27% of residents, against – for the median compared commune in French Guiana. 36% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Growing fast
Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni had 40,597 residents at the 2012 census and 54,429 in 2023, up 34%: faster growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni grew +34% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 98% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median French Guiana town ±0%.
In Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, 3.2% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 99% 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
■ Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni 18.6. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (19%), Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is above 98% of compared French towns. On average, 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%.
19% of households are one person living alone, below 99% 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 French Guiana median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 4.1 people. In the typical compared French town, 35% of households are one person living alone. Couples with children make up 26%, against 25% in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of second homes than 78% of compared French towns, at 5.2%
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
Long tenure is the mark of 4.7% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 19% (under two years). To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. At 6.9%, empty homes sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni sits below 99% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (4.5%)
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 manual worker: 13% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. The share of households headed by a manager or professional stands at 7.8%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
27% of residents are immigrants, a share 97% of compared French towns don’t reach
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.
The figure for foreign nationals is 36% in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 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.
A smaller share of married residents than 99% of compared French towns: 12%
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
Just over two thirds of residents 15 and over are single (typical compared French town: 25%). Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
45% of adults out of school have no qualification, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 16% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification here. The benchmark for adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town: 19%.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 49,603 to 59,854 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 Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (18.6), the oldest Les Sables-d'Olonne (59.6).
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-Laurent-du-Maroni
What is the population of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni?
54,429 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 34% more than in 2012 (40,597).
How old are Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni’s residents?
The median age is 18.6, younger than 99% of compared French towns. 49% are under 18 and 3.2% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni?
760, with occasional dwellings: 5.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni?
INSEE counts 14,640 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 27% of residents, and 19,420 foreign nationals (36%). 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 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.