Sauvain is older than 92% of compared French towns: a median age of 53.8
Households in social housing make up 2.2%, against 12% in the typical compared French town. Sauvain is home to 371 residents in 180 households, by the 2023 Census. Single-parent households account for 5.6%. Higher than in 91% of compared French towns: 44% of households are headed by a retired person.
Throughout this page, the Loire 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 Sauvain
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 90 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sauvain, 30% of its 300 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 96% 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 Sauvain’s residents are under 53.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.8% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
30% of homes are second homes, more than in 95% 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
In the last two years, 6.1% of households moved in; at the other end, 38% have stayed 30 years or more. 8.6% of homes are flats, a lower share than in 89% of compared French towns. On average, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Set against 6.7% in the typical compared French town, one in ten homes stand empty in Sauvain.
A change of −4% since 2012 leaves Sauvain behind 84% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was −2%; from 2017 to 2023, −2%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Loire town +3%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 6.8%, a lower share than 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
■ Sauvain 53.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 29% here and 22% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Below 61% of compared French towns: 23% 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 Loire median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2.1 people in the average household. Just over a third of households are one person living alone, a higher share than in 51% of compared French towns. Couples with children make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Median standard of living: €22,520 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 €22,520 a year: lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker: 11%, a lower share than 68% of compared French towns
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 manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. 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).
In Sauvain, 0.8% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 99% 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.
The median compared commune in Loire has 5.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns. Typically, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. In Sauvain, 0.3% 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.
38% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 77% 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
At 26%, the share of single residents is higher than in 55% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 20% in Sauvain, less than in 86% 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
In the typical compared French town, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification; in Sauvain, 24%. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
7th highest median age among 41 French towns of 371 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Sauvain is younger than 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sauvain | 53.8 | 29% | 30% | 0.8% |
| Boën-sur-Lignon 3,001 · 7.6 mi | 55.3 | 35% | 2.3% | 3.6% |
| Montbrison 16,123 · 9.6 mi | 44.6 | 25% | 2.8% | 6.4% |
| Savigneux 3,509 · 10.4 mi | 48.5 | 27% | 1.8% | 3.9% |
| Ambert 6,517 · 11.1 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 8.2% | 6.5% |
| Saint-Romain-le-Puy 4,142 · 14 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 1.2% | 2.3% |
| Feurs 8,367 · 16.8 mi | 50.7 | 32% | 2% | 6.7% |
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 Sauvain
What is the population of Sauvain?
371 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (386).
How old are Sauvain’s residents?
The median age is 53.8, older than 92% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sauvain?
90, with occasional dwellings: 30% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sauvain?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.8% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sauvain?
€22,520 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 4, 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.