More couples with children than 96% of compared French towns: 37%
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Across Sorbey, 5.2% of households have no car. At the 2023 Census, 227 people lived here, in 90 households. 3.8% of homes stand empty, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town.
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 Sorbey
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 12 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sorbey, 11% of its 110 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 92% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
A town of families
37% of households are couples with children and 11% single parents with children; 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Sorbey had 258 residents at the 2012 census and 227 in 2023, down 12%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Sorbey ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 2.7%
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
17% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 9.4% moved in within the last two years. On second homes, Sorbey sits higher than 89% of compared French towns: 11%.
Sorbey’s population moved −12% on 2012, less than in 98% 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 Meuse town changed −8% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +5% and the next six −17%.
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 95% of compared French towns, at 14%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Sorbey 40.4. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 40.4, Sorbey is younger than 77% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Meuse 52.5%, France 51.8%.
In Sorbey, 21% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 99% 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 Meuse median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.5 people on average. On single-parent households, Sorbey sits higher than 58% of compared French towns: 11%. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A typical living standard of €29,030 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.
Half of Sorbey’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €29,030 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 79% of compared French towns.
In Sorbey, 26% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 98% 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
About one in three: that is how common households headed by a retired person are in Sorbey (32%). On average, 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).
In Sorbey, 8.3% of residents are foreign nationals, more than in 75% 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.
The median compared commune in Meuse has 7.3%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. Census figures put immigrants at 9.1% in Sorbey. As a reference point, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
Sorbey: 52% of residents 15 and over are married, above 97% 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
In the typical compared French town, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single; in Sorbey, 21%. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Graduates of higher education make up 16% in Sorbey, less than in 96% 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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Sorbey comes in at 23%. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 227 to 2,582 people: this is the 4th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as young as Sorbey
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Sorbey
What is the population of Sorbey?
227 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% fewer than in 2012 (258).
How old are Sorbey’s residents?
The median age is 40.4, younger than 77% of compared French towns. 28% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sorbey?
12, with occasional dwellings: 11% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sorbey?
INSEE counts 21 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.1% of residents, and 19 foreign nationals (8.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sorbey?
€29,030 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.