Solesmes is older than 98% of compared French towns: a median age of 60
Where a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, Solesmes has 17%. Few places have so few households in social housing: 0.9% here, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 1,240 residents here, living in 550 households. Here, 48% of households are headed by a retired person.
Throughout this page, the Sarthe 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 Solesmes
An older town
Half of Solesmes’ residents are under 60 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 40% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Solesmes had 1,316 residents at the 2012 census and 1,240 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 90% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 90% of compared French towns: Solesmes changed by −6% since 2012
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 −9%, and from 2017 to 2023 +4%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Sarthe town ±0%.
Solesmes ranks above 98% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 40%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Solesmes 60. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 5.8% of residents are 15 to 24 here. To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
Solesmes sits below 99% of compared French towns for single-parent households (4.5%)
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 Sarthe median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2.1 people. Typically, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. One-person households are rarer here than in just over two thirds of compared French towns.
Fewer flats than 97% of compared French towns: 3.9%
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
Newcomers of less than two years account for 8.4% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 29%. On households without a car, Solesmes sits lower than 90% of compared French towns: 4.7%. The share of second homes tops 85% of compared French towns: 7.9%.
A typical living standard of €27,470 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €27,470 a year: higher than in 66% of compared French towns.
Solesmes ranks above 64% of compared French towns on households headed by a manual worker: 16%
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
Where 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, Solesmes has 11%. To put it in context, 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).
Below 83% of compared French towns: 1.7% of residents are foreign nationals
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 immigrants is 3.9% in Solesmes and 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share lower than in nearly three quarters of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Sarthe has 2.8%. Against that, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
53% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 98% of compared French towns don’t reach
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: 22%, below just over four fifths of compared French towns. The usual figure: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
34% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, a share 62% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
21% of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
Ranked by age, 4th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Solesmes 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solesmes | 60 | 40% | 7.9% | 3.9% |
| Sablé-sur-Sarthe 12,326 · 1.8 mi | 43.7 | 24% | 2.7% | 14% |
| Précigné 2,877 · 6 mi | 48.7 | 23% | 3.7% | 1.5% |
| Noyen-sur-Sarthe 2,556 · 9.2 mi | 45.7 | 25% | 6.4% | 1.3% |
| Morannes sur Sarthe-Daumeray 3,687 · 10.2 mi | 44.2 | 23% | 8.6% | 2% |
| Durtal 3,386 · 12.3 mi | 42.7 | 23% | 3.6% | 1.9% |
| Meslay-du-Maine 2,779 · 13.9 mi | 51.2 | 33% | 2.6% | 2.3% |
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 Solesmes
What is the population of Solesmes?
1,240 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (1,316).
How old are Solesmes’ residents?
The median age is 60, older than 98% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 40% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Solesmes?
51, with occasional dwellings: 7.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Solesmes?
INSEE counts 49 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.9% of residents, and 22 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Solesmes?
€27,470 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.