40% of households are couples with children, more than in 99% of compared French towns
Here 2.7% of households have no car, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. There were 560 households in Dessenheim at the 2023 Census, home to 1,442 residents. In Dessenheim, 4.7% of households rent social housing (HLM). Compared with other places, households headed by a manual worker are common here: 23%, more than in 93% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Haut-Rhin 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 Dessenheim
A town of families
40% of households are couples with children and 4.5% single parents with children; 19% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Dessenheim grew +13% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 77% 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 whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Haut-Rhin town +4%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought +11%; 2017 to 2023, +2%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 16% in Dessenheim, less than in 85% 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
■ Dessenheim 42.2. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 42.2, Dessenheim is younger than 64% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 11% locally.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Haut-Rhin 51.5%, France 51.8%.
18% 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 Haut-Rhin median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.6 people. At 4.5%, the share of single-parent households is lower than in 99% of compared French towns. Against that, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Flats: 12%, a lower share than 84% 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
There is little gap on second homes: 1.6%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. Flats: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Of all households, 7.1% moved in during the last two years and 28% have stayed three decades or more.
Median standard of living: €29,200 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.
Half of Dessenheim’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €29,200 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 80% of compared French towns.
In Dessenheim, 25% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 85% 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
Compared with 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 7.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional here. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a retired person come to 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 64% of compared French towns: 4.9%
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.
The median compared commune in Haut-Rhin has 10%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 64% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Locally, 3.9% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 52% in Dessenheim, more than in 97% 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
20% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Dessenheim ranks below 66% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 26%
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 Dessenheim comes in at 17%. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,442 to 2,582 people: this is the 9th youngest
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).
A younger town than 5 of the 6 around it: Dessenheim
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dessenheim | 42.2 | 16% | 1.6% | 4.9% |
| Volgelsheim 2,720 · 3.9 mi | 42.2 | 18% | 2% | 24% |
| Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine 3,004 · 5.3 mi | 45.1 | 20% | 2.9% | 4.9% |
| Horbourg-Wihr 6,199 · 8.3 mi | 45.8 | 25% | 2.2% | 7.3% |
| Rouffach 4,238 · 8.7 mi | 47.2 | 24% | 2.1% | 5.2% |
| Colmar 66,970 · 9.4 mi | 42.1 | 22% | 4.8% | 17% |
| Ensisheim 7,306 · 10.1 mi | 42.3 | 21% | 0.9% | 6.3% |
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 Dessenheim
What is the population of Dessenheim?
1,442 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% more than in 2012 (1,277).
How old are Dessenheim’s residents?
The median age is 42.2, younger than 64% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Dessenheim?
10, with occasional dwellings: 1.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Dessenheim?
INSEE counts 71 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.9% of residents, and 56 foreign nationals (3.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Dessenheim?
€29,200 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.