Étain ranks below 96% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 3.3%
In the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%; Étain has 11%. Across Étain, a quarter of residents are 65 or over. Few places have as many households without a car: 15% here, more than in 68% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 3,375 people lived locally, in 1,530 households.
Throughout this page, the Meuse 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 Étain
Fewer residents than in 2012
Étain had 3,768 residents at the 2012 census and 3,375 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of −10% since 2012 leaves Étain behind 97% 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 median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Meuse town −8%.
Étain is older than 61% of compared French towns: a median age of 45.7
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Étain 45.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Roughly one in ten: 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Meuse 52.5%, France 51.8%.
38% of households are one person living alone, a share 63% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 Meuse median and the France median
Living alone · share
The typical household size is 2.2 people. Étain has fewer couples with children than 57% of compared French towns, at 24%. As a reference point, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 10% of households are single parents.
23% of homes are flats, fewer than in 62% 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
Set against 12% in the typical compared French town, one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in Étain. The usual figure: 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Across Étain, 1.2% of homes are second homes.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €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. Living below the poverty line: 20.0% of residents.
19% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 78% 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 retired person make up about one in three here (33%). By way of comparison, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker 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 3.5% in Étain, less than in 77% 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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 2.2% of residents are foreign nationals in Étain. On average, 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.
In Étain, 40% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 71% 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
Where 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, Étain has 27%. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Below 85% of compared French towns: 20% of adults out of school hold a higher-education 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
23% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 16th oldest of 41 French towns of 3,342 to 3,409 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.
The youngest is Mareuil-lès-Meaux (36.4), the oldest Saint-Cast-le-Guildo (64.9).
Étain is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Étain | 45.7 | 25% | 1.2% | 3.5% |
| Bouligny 2,507 · 7.3 mi | 44.6 | 24% | 1.4% | 11% |
| Belleville-sur-Meuse 3,013 · 11.6 mi | 45 | 24% | 1.8% | 3.5% |
| Jarny 8,050 · 11.7 mi | 45.5 | 25% | 0.7% | 5% |
| Verdun 16,890 · 11.8 mi | 45 | 26% | 2.1% | 7.3% |
| Thierville-sur-Meuse 3,172 · 12.9 mi | 37.1 | 19% | 2.6% | 2.9% |
| Val de Briey 8,130 · 13.7 mi | 43.8 | 23% | 2.1% | 6.6% |
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 Étain
What is the population of Étain?
3,375 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (3,768).
How old are Étain’s residents?
The median age is 45.7, older than 61% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Étain?
20, with occasional dwellings: 1.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Étain?
INSEE counts 120 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.5% of residents, and 73 foreign nationals (2.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Étain?
€22,520 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 20.0% 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.