L'Étoile sits below 98% of compared French towns for flats (3.5%)
With households in social housing at 5.3%, L'Étoile is behind 85% of compared French towns on that count. 1,128 residents in 510 households: that is L'Étoile at the 2023 Census. For L'Étoile, the census puts households headed by a retired person at 43%. On empty homes, L'Étoile sits higher than 77% of compared French towns: 9.7%.
Throughout this page, the Somme 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 L'Étoile
Fewer residents than in 2012
L'Étoile had 1,263 residents at the 2012 census and 1,128 in 2023, down 11%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 98% of compared French towns: L'Étoile changed by −11% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −3% in Somme.
Half of L'Étoile is over 45.5, older than 60% 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
■ L'Étoile 45.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, L'Étoile has 24%.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Somme 52.5%, France 51.8%.
L'Étoile sits below 68% of compared French towns for one-person households (32%)
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 Somme median and the France median
Living alone · share
Set against 10% in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten households are single parents in L'Étoile. The wider picture: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Here, 27% of households are couples with children.
A higher share of households without a car than 74% of compared French towns, at 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
Of all households, 8.3% moved in during the last two years and 30% have stayed three decades or more. Across the comparison, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. On second homes, 2.2% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town.
A median of €21,430 a year per consumption unit
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.
The median standard of living in L'Étoile is €21,430 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 92% of compared French towns.
L'Étoile sits above 99% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (28%)
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 manager or professional make up 5.9%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
0.5% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 99% 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.
0.3% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Somme has 2.5%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 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.
Married residents: 39%, a lower share than 73% 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 share of single residents stands at 26%. By way of comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
14% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 98% 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 have no qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,128 to 2,582 people), the 21st 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 Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Around L'Étoile, 2 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L'Étoile | 45.5 | 24% | 2.2% | 0.5% |
| Flixecourt 3,221 · 2 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| Ailly-sur-Somme 3,003 · 9.6 mi | 47.3 | 25% | 0.6% | 2.3% |
| Abbeville 22,395 · 10.7 mi | 47.1 | 25% | 1.5% | 2.7% |
| Salouël 4,179 · 14.2 mi | 32.5 | 19% | 1% | 3.1% |
| Saleux 2,739 · 14.3 mi | 43.7 | 22% | 0.9% | 3.8% |
| Amiens 136,449 · 14.6 mi | 33.8 | 16% | 2.8% | 12% |
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 L'Étoile
What is the population of L'Étoile?
1,128 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% fewer than in 2012 (1,263).
How old are L'Étoile’s residents?
The median age is 45.5, older than 60% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in L'Étoile?
13, with occasional dwellings: 2.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in L'Étoile?
INSEE counts 6 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.5% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (0.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in L'Étoile?
€21,430 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.