Photo: JessydeVilly · CC BY-SA 4.0Single-parent households make up 21% in Saint-Paul, more than in 99% of compared French towns
Households headed by a retired person are rarer here than in 94% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Saint-Paul was home to 108,088 people in 42,760 households. About one in seven: that is how common residents aged 65 and over are in Saint-Paul (15%). The share of second homes is 7.3%, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town.
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.
Slower growth than 56% of compared French towns: Saint-Paul changed by +3% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +6% in Réunion. Here the change came as ±0% to 2017, then +3% to 2023.
Half of Saint-Paul is under 40.3, younger than 78% 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-Paul 40.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 12%, above three quarters of compared French towns.
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%.
One-person households: 28%, a lower share than 84% 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 Réunion median and the France median
Living alone · share
In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%; Saint-Paul has 28%. To put it in context, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. The average household has 2.5 people.
21% of households have no car, more than in 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
23% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 10% moved in within the last two years. Higher than in 75% of compared French towns: 9.4% of homes stand empty. By way of comparison, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €21,220 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 median standard of living in Saint-Paul is €21,220 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 93% of compared French towns. 30.4% of the population lives below the poverty line.
A larger share of households headed by a manual worker than 57% of compared French towns: 15%
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
Locally, 10% of households are headed by a manager or professional. The comparison figure for households headed by a manual worker is 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.6% of residents are immigrants, below 96% 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.
Foreign nationals: 0.8%, below 97% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Saint-Paul ranks above 97% of compared French towns on single residents: 39%
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: 34% here and 43% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single.
Above 94% of compared French towns: 31% of adults out of school have no qualification
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: 27% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 4th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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 30 in Poitiers to 46.3 in Marseille 8e.
Saint-Paul is younger than 3 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Paul | 40.3 | 15% | 7.3% | 1.6% |
| Les Trois-Bassins 7,221 · 5 mi | 41.4 | 15% | 2.7% | 1.1% |
| Le Port 33,969 · 6.5 mi | 36.2 | 14% | 0.8% | 4.8% |
| La Possession 36,568 · 7.1 mi | 34.8 | 10% | 1.3% | 2.5% |
| Saint-Leu 36,163 · 10.5 mi | 39.6 | 14% | 5.8% | 1.6% |
| Les Avirons 11,536 · 14.3 mi | 40.6 | 14% | 3.6% | 1.7% |
| Cilaos 5,040 · 14.4 mi | 42.8 | 15% | 17% | 0.9% |
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-Paul
What is the population of Saint-Paul?
108,088 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (104,646).
How old are Saint-Paul’s residents?
The median age is 40.3, younger than 78% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Paul?
3,720, with occasional dwellings: 7.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Paul?
INSEE counts 1,720 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.6% of residents, and 830 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Paul?
€21,220 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 30.4% 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.