Stenay: 21% of homes stand empty, above 99% of compared French towns
Households headed by a manager or professional: 5.2% here and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Census day 2023: 2,403 residents and 1,160 households in Stenay. About one in two: that is how common one-person households are in Stenay (45%). More flats than in nearly three fifths of compared French towns: 36%.
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 Stenay
Fewer residents than in 2012
Stenay had 2,749 residents at the 2012 census and 2,403 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 310 homes empty (21%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Stenay’s residents are under 50.8 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.
From 2012 to 2023, 99% of compared French towns grew faster than Stenay: −13%
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 the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Meuse town −8%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was −6%; from 2017 to 2023, −7%.
Stenay is older than 85% of compared French towns: a median age of 50.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Stenay 50.8. The median compared French town: 44.
31% of Stenay’s residents are 65 or older, against 25% in the median Meuse town and 22% in the median compared French town; 18% are under 18. On the census count, just over one in ten 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%.
16% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 89% 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
Households average 1.9 people. The share of couples with children in the typical compared French town is 25%. Just over one in ten households are single parents, a higher share than in 79% of compared French towns.
Households without a car: 22%, a higher share than 88% 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
There is little gap on second homes: 2.7%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. Households without a car: 11% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €22,520 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
In Stenay, 23% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 91% 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
33% of households are headed by a retired person. As a yardstick, 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).
A larger share of immigrants than 68% of compared French towns: 9.5%
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 figure for foreign nationals is 7% in Stenay and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer married residents than 91% of compared French towns: 35%
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
Single residents: 31% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
16% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer 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
Adults with no qualification make up 31%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (2,403 to 2,582 people), the 11th oldest
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 Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Stenay and the towns 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stenay | 50.8 | 31% | 2.7% | 9.5% |
| Carignan 2,680 · 9.7 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 1.8% | 7.2% |
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 Stenay
What is the population of Stenay?
2,403 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (2,749).
How old are Stenay’s residents?
The median age is 50.8, older than 85% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Stenay?
42, with occasional dwellings: 2.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Stenay?
INSEE counts 230 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.5% of residents, and 170 foreign nationals (7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Stenay?
€22,520 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 October 30, 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.