In Saint-Joseph, 3.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns
With single-parent households at 21%, Saint-Joseph is ahead of 99% of compared French towns on that count. There were 16,220 households locally at the 2023 Census, home to 39,207 residents. Locally, just over a quarter of households have no car. 16% of residents are 65 or over, a lower share than in 86% of compared French towns.
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.
Faster growth than 54% of compared French towns: Saint-Joseph changed by +6% since 2012
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
The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Réunion town +6%. The change was +2% from 2012 to 2017 and +4% from 2017 to 2023.
A median age of 40.7: Saint-Joseph is younger than 75% 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-Joseph 40.7. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24; in Saint-Joseph, 12%.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Réunion 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Below 79% of compared French towns: 30% of households are one person living alone
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
Where a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, Saint-Joseph has 27%. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%. Each household has 2.4 people on average.
In Saint-Joseph, 17% of homes are flats, fewer than in 73% 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
One household in four has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. Set beside that, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Here, 10% of households rent social housing (HLM).
A median standard of living of €16,870 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €16,870 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 99% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 43.8% of residents.
Below 89% of compared French towns: 23% of households are headed by a retired person
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
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (19%), Saint-Joseph is above 79% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 32% 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).
Only 1.1% of residents are immigrants in Saint-Joseph
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.
Foreign nationals make up 0.6%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Réunion has 1.6%. Typically, 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 higher share of single residents than 90% of compared French towns, at 34%
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: 38% here and 43% in the typical compared French town. On average, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of adults with no qualification than 99% of compared French towns, at 40%
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
Graduates of higher education make up 16%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 12th oldest of 41 French towns of 36,687 to 41,908 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 29.9 in Saint-Martin-d'Hères to 58.9 in Saint-Raphaël.
Older than Saint-Joseph: 3 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Joseph | 40.7 | 16% | 1.9% | 1.1% |
| Petite-Île 13,067 · 4.4 mi | 42.3 | 18% | 3.5% | 1% |
| Saint-Philippe 5,082 · 8 mi | 42.8 | 15% | 2.3% | 0.7% |
| Le Tampon 82,579 · 9.9 mi | 37.2 | 14% | 3% | 1.6% |
| Saint-Pierre 85,038 · 10.1 mi | 38.1 | 14% | 4.4% | 2.6% |
| Entre-Deux 7,176 · 13 mi | 42.2 | 18% | 4.8% | 1.5% |
| Saint-Louis 54,941 · 14.6 mi | 35.8 | 13% | 3.6% | 1.5% |
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-Joseph
What is the population of Saint-Joseph?
39,207 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (37,069).
How old are Saint-Joseph’s residents?
The median age is 40.7, younger than 75% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Joseph?
340, with occasional dwellings: 1.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Joseph?
INSEE counts 440 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.1% of residents, and 230 foreign nationals (0.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Joseph?
€16,870 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 43.8% 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.