Photo: Eric Touzé · CC BY-SA 4.0A smaller share of flats than 99% of compared French towns: 1.3%
Households in social housing make up 3.9%, against 12% in the typical compared French town. 2,808 residents in 1,200 households: that is Spay at the 2023 Census. Census figures put one-person households at 22% in the town. Empty homes are rarer here than in 98% of compared French towns.
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.
A −3% change since 2012: slower than 81% 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 ±0%, and from 2017 to 2023 −3%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Sarthe town ±0%.
A median age of 48.8: Spay is older than 78% 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
■ Spay 48.8. The median compared French town: 44.
25% of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 9.7%.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 7.1%, a lower share than 89% 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 Sarthe median and the France median
Living alone · share
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children in Spay comes in at 28%. The usual figure: one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of households without a car than 99% of compared French towns: 2.7%
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
5% of households moved in less than two years ago; 26% have been in their home 30 years or more. As a yardstick, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. Fewer second homes than in 55% of compared French towns: 1.8%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €28,110 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 €28,110 a year: higher than in 72% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 5.0%.
In Spay, 38% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 77% 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
Households headed by a manual worker make up 12%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Spay, 1.9% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 92% 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.
1% of residents are foreign nationals (typical compared French town: 4.3%). Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents: 17%, a lower share than 99% 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
The figure for married residents is 55% in Spay and 43% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 63% of compared French towns, at 17%
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 graduates of higher education stands at 29%. Typically, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (2,777 to 2,838 people), the 18th 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.
The youngest is Miremont (37.7), the oldest Vendays-Montalivet (59).
Spay and its 6 nearest towns: 1 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spay | 48.8 | 25% | 1.8% | 1.9% |
| Arnage 5,445 · 1.9 mi | 47.6 | 28% | 0.9% | 5.7% |
| Moncé-en-Belin 3,697 · 3 mi | 42.2 | 17% | 1.8% | 1.2% |
| Allonnes 10,739 · 3 mi | 44.7 | 26% | 1.2% | 12% |
| Guécélard 3,202 · 3.1 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 0.5% | 1.6% |
| Roëzé-sur-Sarthe 2,514 · 4.3 mi | 50.6 | 24% | 4.8% | 1.7% |
| Mulsanne 5,244 · 4.7 mi | 46.2 | 26% | 0.5% | 3.6% |
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 Spay
What is the population of Spay?
2,808 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (2,890).
How old are Spay’s residents?
The median age is 48.8, older than 78% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Spay?
23, with occasional dwellings: 1.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Spay?
INSEE counts 54 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.9% of residents, and 27 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Spay?
€28,110 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 5.0% 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 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.