Sainte-Ruffine sits below 99% of compared French towns for empty homes (1.6%)
Households without a car make up 3.9%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. The 2023 Census put Sainte-Ruffine’s population at 623, in 310 households. The share of single-parent households stands at 6.6%. Lower than in 86% of compared French towns: 8.2% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Throughout this page, the Moselle 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 Sainte-Ruffine
An older town
Half of Sainte-Ruffine’s residents are under 52.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.7% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many graduates
52% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 23% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Growing fast
Sainte-Ruffine had 530 residents at the 2012 census and 623 in 2023, up 18%: faster growth than in 87% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Sainte-Ruffine’s population changed by +18% since 2012, more than in 87% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved +6%, and from 2017 to 2023 +11%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Moselle town −1%.
Half of Sainte-Ruffine is over 52.1, older than 89% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Sainte-Ruffine 52.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Sainte-Ruffine comes in at 8.5%. In Sainte-Ruffine, 29% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A lower share of couples with children than 75% of compared French towns, at 20%
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 Moselle median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2 people. Set beside that, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Where just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town, Sainte-Ruffine has 34%.
1% of homes are second homes, below 82% 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
Long tenure is the mark of 19% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 7.2% (under two years). At 39%, the share of flats is higher than in 63% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Set against 12% in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in Sainte-Ruffine.
Half above, half below €33,940 a year in standard of living
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.
At €33,940 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 95% of compared French towns.
Sainte-Ruffine: 16% of households are headed by a manager or professional, above 80% 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
36% of households are headed by a retired person; in the typical compared French town the figure is 32%. Households headed by a manager or professional: 9.4% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Sainte-Ruffine: 5.9% of residents are immigrants
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.
That is lower than in 55% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Moselle has 12%. Immigrants make up about one in 17 here (5.9%). There is little gap on foreign nationals: 4.3%, about the same as 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 smaller share of single residents than 94% of compared French towns: 19%
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 half of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Adults with no qualification make up 8.9% in Sainte-Ruffine, less 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
Where 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, Sainte-Ruffine has 52%. In the typical compared French town, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification.
Among 41 French towns of 623 to 2,582 people, the 9th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Sainte-Ruffine 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Ruffine | 52.1 | 29% | 1% | 5.9% |
| Scy-Chazelles 2,753 · 1 mi | 46.9 | 24% | 1.8% | 8.9% |
| Moulins-lès-Metz 5,265 · 1.3 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 0.9% | 7.9% |
| Ars-sur-Moselle 4,616 · 2.2 mi | 44.5 | 20% | 0.6% | 8.6% |
| Longeville-lès-Metz 4,102 · 2.4 mi | 45.8 | 25% | 2.4% | 10% |
| Le Ban-Saint-Martin 4,684 · 2.6 mi | 39.8 | 17% | 0.6% | 9.3% |
| Montigny-lès-Metz 21,718 · 2.7 mi | 44.1 | 23% | 1.1% | 12% |
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 Sainte-Ruffine
What is the population of Sainte-Ruffine?
623 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 18% more than in 2012 (530).
How old are Sainte-Ruffine’s residents?
The median age is 52.1, older than 89% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Ruffine?
3, with occasional dwellings: 1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Ruffine?
INSEE counts 37 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.9% of residents, and 27 foreign nationals (4.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Ruffine?
€33,940 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 9, 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.