Half of Saint-Benoît-du-Sault is over 61.2, older than 99% of compared French towns
By its share of households headed by a manager or professional (3.6%), Saint-Benoît-du-Sault is below 95% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 510 people lived here, in 280 households. Across Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, 20% of homes stand empty. Flats are rarer here than in 78% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Indre 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-Benoît-du-Sault
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 100 second homes and occasional dwellings in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, 21% of its 480 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 94% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Saint-Benoît-du-Sault’s residents are under 61.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 42% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Saint-Benoît-du-Sault had 625 residents at the 2012 census and 510 in 2023, down 18%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
52% of Saint-Benoît-du-Sault’s households are one person: higher than in 96% of compared French towns; 47% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes make up 21% in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, more than in 93% 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
16% of households have no car; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. Set beside that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing: just over a tenth of the total.
−18% since 2012: slower than 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −4%, then −15% to 2023. Over those years, the median Indre town changed −5% and the median compared French town +5%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 42% in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, more than in 98% 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-Benoît-du-Sault 61.2. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24; in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, 8.2%. For comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
58% women, 42% men
About 73 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Indre 53.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Below 99% of compared French towns: 8.9% of households are couples with children
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 Indre median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 1.8 people. For comparison, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Higher than in 96% of compared French towns: 52% of households are one person living alone. At the same time, in the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households is 10%; Saint-Benoît-du-Sault has 8.9%.
Median standard of living: €22,510 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €22,510 a year: lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 99% of compared French towns: 61%
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
7.1% of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. Across the comparison, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 94% of compared French towns: 1.8%
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.
1.2% of residents are foreign nationals; in the typical compared French town the figure is 4.3%. Across the comparison, 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.
Single residents make up 21% in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault, less than in 88% 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
In couples, 40% are married and 4.4% in a PACS (median compared French town: 43% and 6.1%); 14% are widowed. The usual figure: 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
17% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 94% 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
Where 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Saint-Benoît-du-Sault has 31%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 2nd oldest of 41 French towns of 510 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as old as Saint-Benoît-du-Sault
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Benoît-du-Sault | 61.2 | 42% | 21% | 1.8% |
| Argenton-sur-Creuse 4,786 · 11.3 mi | 52.1 | 30% | 8.7% | 5.1% |
| La Souterraine 4,978 · 15 mi | 51.4 | 33% | 5.6% | 8.8% |
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-Benoît-du-Sault
What is the population of Saint-Benoît-du-Sault?
510 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 18% fewer than in 2012 (625).
How old are Saint-Benoît-du-Sault’s residents?
The median age is 61.2, older than 99% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 42% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault?
100, with occasional dwellings: 21% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault?
INSEE counts 9 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.8% of residents, and 6 foreign nationals (1.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Benoît-du-Sault?
€22,510 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 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.