Sottevast ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 0.8%
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 3.8% of households have no car here. Sottevast had 1,459 residents in 590 households at the 2023 census. About one in four: that is how common one-person households are in Sottevast (23%). Higher than in 98% of compared French towns: 27% of households are headed by a manual worker.
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 Sottevast
A town of families
35% of households are couples with children and 9.3% single parents with children; 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A young town
Half of Sottevast’s residents are under 38.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 22% are under 15 and 16% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Sottevast’s population changed by +9% since 2012, more than in 66% 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
The change was +3% from 2012 to 2017 and +5% from 2017 to 2023.
Sottevast is younger than 87% of compared French towns: a median age of 38.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Sottevast 38.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Where just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Sottevast has 8.7%. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 16%.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Sottevast ranks above 92% of compared French towns on couples with children: 35%
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
Single-parent households make up 9.3%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.5 people. Couples with children: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A smaller share of households in social housing than 91% of compared French towns: 3.7%
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
2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town, against 3.5% in Sottevast. Households in social housing: 12% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. In Sottevast, 4.7% of homes stand empty.
Standard of living at the median: €27,020 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 Sottevast is €27,020 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 61% of compared French towns.
Sottevast sits below 78% of compared French towns for 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
In the typical compared French town, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional; in Sottevast, 5.9%. For comparison, 32% 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).
Immigrants make up 0.8% in Sottevast, less 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Sottevast comes in at 0.3%. By way of comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of single residents than 99% of compared French towns, at 17%
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
Here 48% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 13% in Sottevast, less than in 84% 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
Lower than in 54% of compared French towns: 29% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. Elsewhere, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,459 to 2,582 people: this is the 2nd 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as young as Sottevast
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sottevast | 38.4 | 16% | 3.5% | 0.8% |
| Bricquebec-en-Cotentin 5,893 · 4.2 mi | 47 | 25% | 4.6% | 1.3% |
| Valognes 6,969 · 5.8 mi | 51 | 29% | 2.4% | 1.6% |
| Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 78,258 · 8.1 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 3.6% | 4.9% |
| Les Pieux 3,249 · 9.7 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 15% | 2.7% |
| La Hague 11,484 · 12.4 mi | 45.5 | 19% | 14% | 1.1% |
| Picauville 3,228 · 13.3 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 7.7% | 2.8% |
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 Sottevast
What is the population of Sottevast?
1,459 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (1,339).
How old are Sottevast’s residents?
The median age is 38.4, younger than 87% of compared French towns. 26% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sottevast?
22, with occasional dwellings: 3.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sottevast?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.8% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (0.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sottevast?
€27,020 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.