Sainte-Mère-Église is older than 91% of compared French towns: a median age of 53.1
Two in five households are headed by a retired person (typical compared French town: 32%). Lower than in 92% of compared French towns: 7% of homes are flats. There were 1,380 households in Sainte-Mère-Église at the 2023 Census, home to 2,896 residents. Single-parent households: 6.5% of the total.
Throughout this page, the Manche 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 Sainte-Mère-Église
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 350 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sainte-Mère-Église, 18% of its 1,920 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 94% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Sainte-Mère-Église had 3,163 residents at the 2012 census and 2,896 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Sainte-Mère-Église’s residents are under 53.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 18% of its homes
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
The share of empty homes is 9.9%, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town. Across Sainte-Mère-Église, 16% of households rent social housing (HLM). To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
−8% since 2012: slower than 95% 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 −3%; from 2017 to 2023, −6%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Manche town ±0%.
31% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 87% 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
■ Sainte-Mère-Église 53.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 8.4% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Couples with children make up 21% in Sainte-Mère-Église, less than in 70% 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 Manche median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2 people. Sainte-Mère-Église has more one-person households than 66% of compared French towns, at 39%. Couples with children make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
€24,270 a year is the median standard of living here
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.
Half of Sainte-Mère-Église’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,270 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 68% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 13.0% of residents.
Only 3.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Sainte-Mère-Église
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
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Sainte-Mère-Église has 23%. Against that, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Sainte-Mère-Église ranks below 96% of compared French towns on immigrants: 1.6%
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 Manche has 2.4%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 96% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. 1% 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.
Below 83% of compared French towns: 21% of residents 15 and over are single
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
Across Sainte-Mère-Église, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 91% of compared French towns, at 18%
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 Sainte-Mère-Église, 30% of adults out of school have no qualification, beside 19% in the typical compared French town.
6th highest median age among 41 French towns of 2,876 to 2,917
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Avord is the youngest (32.5); Batz-sur-Mer the oldest (60.3).
1 of 6 neighbors are older than Sainte-Mère-Église
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Mère-Église | 53.1 | 31% | 18% | 1.6% |
| Picauville 3,228 · 4.6 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 7.7% | 2.8% |
| Carentan-les-Marais 10,218 · 8 mi | 49.1 | 28% | 5% | 2.4% |
| Valognes 6,969 · 9.9 mi | 51 | 29% | 2.4% | 1.6% |
| Isigny-sur-Mer 3,543 · 12.4 mi | 52.4 | 30% | 7.6% | 1.3% |
| La Haye 4,029 · 13.7 mi | 54.9 | 34% | 21% | 2.5% |
| Bricquebec-en-Cotentin 5,893 · 15.4 mi | 47 | 25% | 4.6% | 1.3% |
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 Sainte-Mère-Église
What is the population of Sainte-Mère-Église?
2,896 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (3,163).
How old are Sainte-Mère-Église’s residents?
The median age is 53.1, older than 91% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Mère-Église?
350, with occasional dwellings: 18% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Mère-Église?
INSEE counts 46 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.6% of residents, and 30 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Mère-Église?
€24,270 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 13.0% 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.