Photo: Fagairolles 34 · CC BY-SA 4.0Half of Sauvian is over 50.4, older than 84% of compared French towns
The figure for households without a car is 5.2% in Sauvian and 11% in the typical compared French town. The 2023 Census counted 5,608 residents in 2,500 households. On the census count, just over two in five households are headed by a retired person. The town has more second homes than four fifths of compared French towns, at 6%.
Throughout this page, the Hérault 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 Sauvian
Growing fast
Sauvian had 4,470 residents at the 2012 census and 5,608 in 2023, up 25%: faster growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Sauvian grew +25% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 95% 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 Hérault town +13%.
In Sauvian, 30% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 86% 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
■ Sauvian 50.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Here nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Sauvian ranks below 74% of compared French towns on one-person households: 30%
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 Hérault median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 2.2 people each. Elsewhere, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. At 8.6%, the share of single-parent households is lower than in 72% of compared French towns. Sauvian sits close to the norm on couples with children: 25%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of flats than 71% of compared French towns: 18%
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
One household in 19 has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. At 9.4%, the share of households in social housing is lower than in 63% of compared French towns. For flats, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%. Locally, 5.6% of homes stand empty.
The median resident lives on €24,810 a year per consumption unit
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 Sauvian is €24,810 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 63% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 15.0% of residents.
A smaller share of households headed by a manual worker than 79% of compared French towns: 9.6%
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
More households headed by a manager or professional than in 51% of compared French towns: 9.6%. In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
3% of residents are foreign nationals, below 66% 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.
The median compared commune in Hérault has 6.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 56% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. The share of immigrants stands at 5.8%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer single residents than 88% of compared French towns: 21%
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 Sauvian. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
In Sauvian, 27% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 60% 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
17% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 5,545 to 5,672 people, the 5th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Le Port-Marly is the youngest (37.4); Cancale the oldest (57.6).
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 2 are older than Sauvian
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sauvian | 50.4 | 30% | 6% | 5.8% |
| Sérignan 8,588 · 1.8 mi | 54.2 | 35% | 21% | 6.3% |
| Vendres 2,616 · 2 mi | 49.1 | 27% | 47% | 5.1% |
| Villeneuve-lès-Béziers 4,500 · 2.4 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 8.1% | 7.3% |
| Valras-Plage 4,432 · 3.4 mi | 67 | 54% | 70% | 6.3% |
| Cers 2,503 · 3.5 mi | 47.5 | 28% | 2.8% | 6% |
| Béziers 81,545 · 4.1 mi | 42.7 | 23% | 4.3% | 17% |
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 Sauvian
What is the population of Sauvian?
5,608 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 25% more than in 2012 (4,470).
How old are Sauvian’s residents?
The median age is 50.4, older than 84% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sauvian?
170, with occasional dwellings: 6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sauvian?
INSEE counts 330 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.8% of residents, and 170 foreign nationals (3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sauvian?
€24,810 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 15.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.