Couples with children: 12%, a lower share than 97% of compared French towns
Flats make up 76%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 86% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 2,036 residents and 1,100 households in Sainte-Colombe. On the census count, one in ten homes stand empty.
Throughout this page, the Rhône 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-Colombe
Many people living alone
47% of Sainte-Colombe’s households are one person: higher than in 89% of compared French towns; 39% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Growth of +8% since 2012 puts Sainte-Colombe ahead of 64% 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 the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Rhône town +10%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +2%; from 2017 to 2023, +7%.
Half of Sainte-Colombe is over 50.5, older than 85% 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-Colombe 50.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 come to 11% in Sainte-Colombe, about one in ten.
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 77 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Rhône 51.5%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
47% of households are one person living alone, a share 89% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 Rhône median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 1.9 people on average. At 10%, the share of single-parent households is higher than in 53% of compared French towns. To put it in context, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of households in social housing than 63% of compared French towns, at 9.4%
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
In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten households have no car; in Sainte-Colombe, 13%. On the census count, 2.7% of homes are second homes. As a yardstick, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
At the median, €27,800 a year to live on
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 €27,800 a year: higher than in 69% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 16%, a higher share than 79% 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
Nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, against 36% in Sainte-Colombe. Against that, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 12% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Sainte-Colombe ranks above 69% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 6.9%
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.
9% of residents are immigrants; in the typical compared French town the figure is 6.5%. That is higher than in 65% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Rhône has 8.2%. In the typical compared French town, foreign nationals come to 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of married residents than 80% of compared French towns, at 38%
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
28% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
Above 79% of compared French towns: 40% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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
The share of adults with no qualification is 15%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 13th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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).
Sainte-Colombe 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-Colombe | 50.5 | 30% | 2.7% | 9% |
| Vienne 31,778 · 0.7 mi | 40.2 | 20% | 1.7% | 15% |
| Pont-Évêque 6,213 · 2.6 mi | 37.2 | 18% | 0.9% | 20% |
| Ampuis 2,769 · 3.3 mi | 46 | 22% | 1% | 3.4% |
| Loire-sur-Rhône 2,746 · 3.8 mi | 41.7 | 19% | 1% | 4.8% |
| Estrablin 3,677 · 4.7 mi | 45.5 | 24% | 0.9% | 4.9% |
| Chasse-sur-Rhône 6,588 · 4.9 mi | 36.3 | 16% | 0.8% | 14% |
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-Colombe
What is the population of Sainte-Colombe?
2,036 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% more than in 2012 (1,878).
How old are Sainte-Colombe’s residents?
The median age is 50.5, older than 85% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Colombe?
34, with occasional dwellings: 2.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Colombe?
INSEE counts 180 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9% of residents, and 140 foreign nationals (6.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Colombe?
€27,800 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.