A median age of 54.8: Sainte-Maxime is older than 94% of compared French towns
Against a figure of 32% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person in Sainte-Maxime comes in at 42%. Few places have as many flats: 61% here, more than in 84% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 14,118 residents locally, living in 7,200 households. 3.3% of homes stand empty.
Throughout this page, the Var 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-Maxime
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 9,770 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sainte-Maxime, 56% of its 17,540 homes: higher than in 98% of compared French towns. 39% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Sainte-Maxime’s residents are under 54.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 35% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 2,200 immigrants in Sainte-Maxime (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 16% of residents, against 6.5% for the median compared commune in Var. 14% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes: 56%, a higher share than 98% of compared French towns
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, 11% of households have no car; in Sainte-Maxime, 13%. Meanwhile, on households in social housing, Sainte-Maxime sits lower than 61% of compared French towns: 10%. The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%.
+3% since 2012: slower than 59% 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 +2%, and from 2017 to 2023 +1%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Var town +10%.
Sainte-Maxime ranks above 94% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 35%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Sainte-Maxime 54.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 7.6% of residents are 15 to 24 here. As a reference point, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Var 51.4%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Below 88% of compared French towns: 16% of households are couples with children
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 Var median and the France median
Living alone · share
Set against 10% in the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten households are single parents in Sainte-Maxime. As a yardstick, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. One-person households: 42% of the total.
Median standard of living: €26,430 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €26,430 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 55% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 17.0% of residents are below the line.
Households headed by a manual worker make up 11% in Sainte-Maxime, less than in 73% 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
In the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional; in Sainte-Maxime, 7.1%. Households headed by a manual worker: 14% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Sainte-Maxime, 16% of residents are immigrants, more than in 87% 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.
Foreign nationals: 14% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. 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.
22% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 76% 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 census found that 44% of residents 15 and over are married in Sainte-Maxime. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
22% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 67% 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
In Sainte-Maxime, 28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
2nd highest median age among 41 French towns of 13,756 to 14,481
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Lieusaint (30.7), the youngest, and Douarnenez (55.6), the oldest.
Sainte-Maxime sits below 1 of its 6 closest neighbors on 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Maxime | 54.8 | 35% | 56% | 16% |
| Saint-Tropez 3,582 · 3.6 mi | 55.7 | 36% | 68% | 11% |
| Le Plan-de-la-Tour 3,125 · 4.4 mi | 49.1 | 23% | 34% | 11% |
| Grimaud 4,587 · 5 mi | 51.1 | 27% | 69% | 14% |
| Gassin 2,687 · 5.4 mi | 50.9 | 28% | 64% | 13% |
| Cogolin 12,301 · 6.7 mi | 44.1 | 20% | 22% | 15% |
| La Croix-Valmer 3,855 · 8.4 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 71% | 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-Maxime
What is the population of Sainte-Maxime?
14,118 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (13,736).
How old are Sainte-Maxime’s residents?
The median age is 54.8, older than 94% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 35% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Maxime?
9,770, with occasional dwellings: 56% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Maxime?
INSEE counts 2,220 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 16% of residents, and 1,990 foreign nationals (14%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Maxime?
€26,430 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 17.0% 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.