Below 99% of compared French towns: 0.8% of households are headed by a manager or professional
20% of households are single parents, against 10% in the typical compared French town. Saint-Philippe is home to 5,082 residents in 2,140 households, by the 2023 Census. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 15% locally. Compared with other places, households without a car are common here: 29%, more than in 95% 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.
What stands out about the people of Saint-Philippe
Empty homes
The census found 320 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 69% of compared French towns: Saint-Philippe changed by ±0% 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 Réunion town changed +6% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +4% and the next six −3%.
Saint-Philippe is younger than 60% of compared French towns: a median age of 42.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Philippe 42.8. The median compared French town: 44.
12% of residents are 15 to 24; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Réunion 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Fewer one-person households than 79% of compared French towns: 29%
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
On average, 2.4 people share a household. Across the comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Higher than in 71% of compared French towns: 29% of households are couples with children.
Flats: 7.2%, a lower share than 92% 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
Compared with 6.7% in the typical compared French town, 13% of homes stand empty here. For flats, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%. The census found that 5% of households rent social housing (HLM) in Saint-Philippe.
Median living standard: €16,890 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 €16,890 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 99% of compared French towns. 43.0% of residents have a standard of living below 60% of France’s median.
Saint-Philippe ranks below 77% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 27%
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
Households headed by a manual worker make up 17%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. For households headed by a retired person, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Saint-Philippe ranks below 99% of compared French towns on immigrants: 0.7%
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 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%. Census figures put foreign nationals at 0.6% in Saint-Philippe.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
36% of residents 15 and over are single, a share 94% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 make up 37%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 99% of compared French towns, at 9.2%
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
Adults with no qualification make up 49%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
41 French towns of 5,036 to 5,131 people: this is the 14th youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Bezannes is the youngest (31.7); Saint-Georges-de-Didonne the oldest (67.3).
No nearby town is as old as Saint-Philippe
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Philippe | 42.8 | 15% | 2.3% | 0.7% |
| Saint-Joseph 39,207 · 8 mi | 40.7 | 16% | 1.9% | 1.1% |
| Petite-Île 13,067 · 12.2 mi | 42.3 | 18% | 3.5% | 1% |
| Sainte-Rose 6,557 · 15.2 mi | 40.2 | 15% | 2.6% | 0.8% |
| Le Tampon 82,579 · 16.2 mi | 37.2 | 14% | 3% | 1.6% |
| La Plaine-des-Palmistes 6,936 · 17.2 mi | 37.4 | 14% | 20% | 0.8% |
| Saint-Pierre 85,038 · 17.7 mi | 38.1 | 14% | 4.4% | 2.6% |
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-Philippe
What is the population of Saint-Philippe?
5,082 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (5,072).
How old are Saint-Philippe’s residents?
The median age is 42.8, younger than 60% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Philippe?
58, with occasional dwellings: 2.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Philippe?
INSEE counts 38 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.7% of residents, and 30 foreign nationals (0.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Philippe?
€16,890 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 43.0% 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.