Sauto: 68% of homes are second homes, above 99% of compared French towns
Just over one in ten residents are 65 or over; in the typical compared French town the figure is 22%. Households headed by a retired person are rarer here than in 91% of compared French towns. Sauto had 102 residents in 47 households at the 2023 Census. Couples with children come to 11% in the town, about one in ten.
Throughout this page, the Pyrénées-Orientales 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 Sauto
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 120 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sauto, 68% of its 170 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 91% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A smaller share of flats than 75% of compared French towns: 16%
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for flats is 30% in the typical compared French town. Locally, 5.2% of homes stand empty.
A growing town: +7% since 2012, faster than 61% 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
Over those years, the median Pyrénées-Orientales town changed +10% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −4%, then +12% to 2023.
Only 8.8% of residents are 15 to 24 in Sauto
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Sauto 45.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Sauto’s residents are over 45.8, older than in just over three fifths of compared French towns. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pyrénées-Orientales 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Sauto: 22% of households are single parents, above 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 Pyrénées-Orientales median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2.2 people. A third of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 59% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of households headed by a manual worker than 99% of compared French towns, at 44%
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
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
4.9% of residents are immigrants, below 64% 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.
On the census count, 3.9% of residents are foreign nationals. The usual figure: 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.
Sauto ranks below 86% of compared French towns on single residents: 21%
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 Sauto, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
9.9% of adults out of school have no 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
30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, against 33% in Sauto. Against that, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 102 to 2,582 people: this is the 20th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Sauto 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sauto | 45.8 | 12% | 68% | 4.9% |
| Prades 6,148 · 16.7 mi | 53.9 | 34% | 11% | 11% |
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 Sauto
What is the population of Sauto?
102 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (95).
How old are Sauto’s residents?
The median age is 45.8, older than 61% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 12% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sauto?
120, with occasional dwellings: 68% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sauto?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.9% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (3.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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 8, 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.