Esternay ranks above 93% of compared French towns on empty homes: 14%
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (24%), Esternay is above 95% of compared French towns. The town’s 820 households held 1,748 residents at the 2023 Census. Locally, 13% of homes are flats. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are common here: 27%, more than in just over three quarters of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Marne 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 Esternay
Fewer residents than in 2012
Esternay had 1,890 residents at the 2012 census and 1,748 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 140 homes empty (14%): 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 94% of compared French towns: Esternay changed by −8% 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
Over those years, the median Marne town changed −2% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −1%, then −7% to 2023.
Older than 76% of compared French towns: half of Esternay is over 48.3
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Esternay 48.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Esternay has 9.9%.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Marne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
7.3% of households are single parents, below 87% 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 Marne median and the France median
Living alone · share
In the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households is 35%; Esternay has 37%. On the census count, 24% of households are couples with children. As a yardstick, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
A town of second homes: 3.9% 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
9.7% of households rent social housing (HLM), against 12% in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, households without a car are common here: 11%, more than in 52% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Long tenure is the mark of 21% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 9.5% (under two years).
€23,890 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €23,890 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 73% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 80% of compared French towns: 39%
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
By its share of households headed by a manager or professional (7.3%), Esternay is below nearly two thirds of compared French towns. The comparison figure for households headed by a retired person is 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 62% of compared French towns: 5.1%
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 Marne has 4.9%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 62% of compared French towns. The census found that 3.4% of residents are foreign nationals in Esternay. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Esternay sits below 67% of compared French towns for single residents (23%)
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
The share of married residents stands at 42%. By way of comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
15% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 97% 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
With adults with no qualification at 27%, Esternay is ahead of 86% of compared French towns on that count. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 15th oldest of 41 French towns of 1,748 to 2,582 people
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.
2 of 6 neighbors are older than Esternay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esternay | 48.3 | 27% | 3.9% | 5.1% |
| Sézanne 4,576 · 7.7 mi | 50.7 | 30% | 3% | 8.3% |
| Villenauxe-la-Grande 2,605 · 9.6 mi | 41.3 | 22% | 3.5% | 9.4% |
| Montmirail 3,535 · 9.8 mi | 51.3 | 32% | 3.4% | 5.2% |
| La Ferté-Gaucher 4,743 · 12.1 mi | 42.3 | 24% | 1.3% | 12% |
| Nogent-sur-Seine 5,537 · 16.6 mi | 42.5 | 22% | 6.5% | 13% |
| Romilly-sur-Seine 14,959 · 16.9 mi | 42.8 | 23% | 2.7% | 17% |
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 Esternay
What is the population of Esternay?
1,748 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (1,890).
How old are Esternay’s residents?
The median age is 48.3, older than 76% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Esternay?
39, with occasional dwellings: 3.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Esternay?
INSEE counts 90 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.1% of residents, and 60 foreign nationals (3.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Esternay?
€23,890 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.