A median age of 37: Saint-Denis is younger than 91% of compared French towns
Against a figure of 32% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person in Saint-Denis comes in at 20%. For Saint-Denis, the census puts households without a car at 30%. Few places have as many flats: 65% here, more than in 87% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 155,634 residents here, living in 68,730 households.
Throughout this page, the Réunion 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-Denis
A young town
Half of Saint-Denis’ residents are under 37 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 21% are under 15 and 15% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
+7% since 2012, a pace 60% of compared French towns didn’t match
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 +2%, then +5% to 2023.
In Saint-Denis, 15% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 96% 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-Denis 37. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (15%), Saint-Denis is below 92% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Réunion 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Saint-Denis sits above 99% of compared French towns for single-parent households (21%)
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 Réunion median and the France median
Living alone · share
The typical household size is 2.2 people. Here, a fifth of households are couples with children. One-person households are more common here than in 70% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
Saint-Denis: 25% of households rent social housing (HLM), above 87% 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
The figure for empty homes is 8.8% in Saint-Denis and 6.7% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. Newcomers of less than two years account for 15% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 16%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €20,240 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.
Living standards centre on €20,240 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 96% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 35.0%.
Fewer households headed by a manual worker than 71% of compared French towns: 11%
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
Where 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, Saint-Denis has 11%. For households headed by a manual worker, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Saint-Denis: 6.2% of residents are immigrants
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 Réunion has 1.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 53% of compared French towns. In Saint-Denis, 3.6% 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.
A larger share of single residents than 99% of compared French towns: 44%
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
Married residents: 30%, below 98% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of adults with no qualification than 91% of compared French towns, at 30%
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
29% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 104,978 to 230,890 people: this is the 19th 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.
Rennes is the youngest (30.9); Paris 16e the oldest (43.7).
Saint-Denis and its 6 nearest towns: 1 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Denis | 37 | 15% | 1.8% | 6.2% |
| Sainte-Marie 37,093 · 4.8 mi | 36.1 | 12% | 1.6% | 2.7% |
| La Possession 36,568 · 8.8 mi | 34.8 | 10% | 1.3% | 2.5% |
| Sainte-Suzanne 25,551 · 9.4 mi | 36.1 | 11% | 0.8% | 1.6% |
| Salazie 7,268 · 9.9 mi | 39.4 | 15% | 7.3% | 0.7% |
| Le Port 33,969 · 11.2 mi | 36.2 | 14% | 0.8% | 4.8% |
| Saint-André 58,885 · 13 mi | 34.1 | 11% | 1% | 2.7% |
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-Denis
What is the population of Saint-Denis?
155,634 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (145,238).
How old are Saint-Denis’ residents?
The median age is 37, younger than 91% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Denis?
1,370, with occasional dwellings: 1.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Denis?
INSEE counts 9,620 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.2% of residents, and 5,660 foreign nationals (3.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Denis?
€20,240 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 35.0% 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 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.