Photo: Niko67000 · CC BY-SA 4.0Residents aged 15 to 24: 15%, a higher share than 96% of compared French towns
Here 16% of households are couples with children, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%. Locally, 66% of homes are flats. Compared with other places, households without a car are common here: 23%, more than in 89% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 12,170 residents in 5,880 households.
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 Sarrebourg
Many people living alone
49% of Sarrebourg’s households are one person: higher than in 93% of compared French towns; 42% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A −2% change since 2012: slower than 77% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Moselle town −1%.
Half of Sarrebourg is under 41.8, younger than 67% 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
■ Sarrebourg 41.8. The median compared French town: 44.
In Sarrebourg, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 49%, a higher share than 93% 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 Moselle median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 1.9 people. In the typical compared French town, 35% of households are one person living alone. Nothing unusual on single-parent households: 10%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of empty homes than 81% of compared French towns: 10%
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
Without a car: one household in four, against 11% in the median compared French town. The census found that 8.8% of households rent social housing (HLM) in Sarrebourg. Higher than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns: 3.3% of homes are second homes. The usual figure: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €22,700 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €22,700 a year: lower than in 84% of compared French towns. 22.0% of residents live below the poverty line INSEE uses.
Sarrebourg ranks above 71% of compared French towns on households headed by a manual worker: 17%
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
35% of households are headed by a retired person (typical compared French town: 32%). On households headed by a manager or professional, Sarrebourg sits lower than 62% of compared French towns: 7.7%. Households headed by a manual worker make up 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Sarrebourg: 11% of residents are immigrants, above 73% 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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten residents are foreign nationals here. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%. The median compared commune in Moselle has 12%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 73% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Sarrebourg: 37% of residents 15 and over are single, above 94% 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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 34% in Sarrebourg. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 80% of compared French towns: 22%
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
In Sarrebourg, a quarter of adults out of school have no qualification, beside 19% in the typical compared French town. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
19th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 11,907 to 12,416
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 33.7 in Saint-Pierre-du-Perray to 61.1 in Saint-Cyprien.
Every neighbor is older than Sarrebourg
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarrebourg | 41.8 | 23% | 3.3% | 11% |
| Phalsbourg 4,688 · 9.5 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 2.6% | 9.5% |
| Sarre-Union 2,731 · 14.1 mi | 48.8 | 28% | 1.8% | 10% |
| Saverne 11,460 · 14.1 mi | 46.2 | 24% | 2.8% | 13% |
| Marmoutier 2,699 · 15.1 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 1.6% | 5.7% |
| Dieuze 2,770 · 16 mi | 51.9 | 30% | 1.1% | 3.5% |
| Sarralbe 4,364 · 17.9 mi | 44.5 | 22% | 1.4% | 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 Sarrebourg
What is the population of Sarrebourg?
12,170 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (12,386).
How old are Sarrebourg’s residents?
The median age is 41.8, younger than 67% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sarrebourg?
220, with occasional dwellings: 3.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sarrebourg?
INSEE counts 1,300 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 980 foreign nationals (8.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sarrebourg?
€22,700 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 22.0% 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 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.