Sorbiers sits below 93% of compared French towns for single-parent households (6.6%)
By its share of households without a car (5.9%), Sorbiers is below 81% of compared French towns. Few places have as many households headed by a manager or professional: 14% here, more than in 74% of compared French towns. The town’s 3,460 households held 8,116 residents at the 2023 Census. In Sorbiers, 5% of homes stand empty.
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.
Slower than most: +3% since 2012, behind 57% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +1%, then +2% to 2023.
A median age of 44.8: Sorbiers is older than 55% 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
■ Sorbiers 44.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 11%. Here, 23% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
28% of households are one person living alone, below 85% 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 Loire median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2.4 people. Against that, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Sorbiers has more couples with children than nearly four fifths of compared French towns, at 31%.
Sorbiers ranks above 54% of compared French towns on households in social housing: 13%
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
Without a car: one household in 17, against 11% in the median compared French town. Elsewhere, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. 1.2% of homes are second homes. More flats than in 51% of compared French towns: 31%.
Median standard of living: €28,620 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.
At €28,620 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 76% of compared French towns. Some 9.0% of residents fall below the poverty line.
Households headed by a retired person: 34%, a higher share than 58% 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
In Sorbiers, 13% of households are headed by a manual worker. Against that, nearly a third 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 2.8% of residents are foreign nationals in Sorbiers
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 63% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Loire has 5.8%. As a reference point, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. The share of immigrants stands at 5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 94% of compared French towns: 51%
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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 23% of residents 15 and over are single in Sorbiers. The benchmark for married residents in the typical compared French town: 43%.
Below 87% of compared French towns: 12% 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
In Sorbiers, 38% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Ranked by age, 17th 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.
The youngest is Vaujours (33.9), the oldest Cavalaire-sur-Mer (57.1).
Around Sorbiers, 4 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sorbiers | 44.8 | 23% | 1.2% | 5% |
| La Talaudière 7,133 · 1.1 mi | 48.2 | 29% | 1.5% | 7.6% |
| Saint-Jean-Bonnefonds 6,563 · 2.7 mi | 45.2 | 24% | 0.9% | 6.6% |
| L'Étrat 2,879 · 3.3 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 2.5% | 4.3% |
| Saint-Priest-en-Jarez 6,471 · 3.5 mi | 43.5 | 25% | 3.3% | 7.7% |
| Saint-Chamond 35,646 · 3.7 mi | 43.3 | 23% | 1.1% | 13% |
| Saint-Héand 3,665 · 4.2 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 2.4% | 1.9% |
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 Sorbiers
What is the population of Sorbiers?
8,116 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (7,868).
How old are Sorbiers’ residents?
The median age is 44.8, older than 55% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sorbiers?
45, with occasional dwellings: 1.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sorbiers?
INSEE counts 400 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5% of residents, and 230 foreign nationals (2.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sorbiers?
€28,620 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 9.0% 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 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.