Half of Salernes is over 54.1, older than 93% of compared French towns
42% of households are headed by a retired person; in the typical compared French town the figure is 32%. Fewer households in social housing than in 73% of compared French towns: 7.7%. Salernes had 4,019 residents in 1,910 households at the 2023 census. Couples with children come to 21% here, about two in ten.
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 Salernes
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 390 second homes and occasional dwellings in Salernes, 14% of its 2,720 homes: higher than in 91% of compared French towns. 92% 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 Salernes’ residents are under 54.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 420 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Salernes: 16% of homes stand empty, above 96% 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
14% of homes are second homes (Var median 14%, France median 2.1%) and 16% are empty (6.7%). Flats are more common here than in 55% of compared French towns. In the last two years, just over one in ten households moved in; at the other end, 15% have stayed 30 years or more.
Salernes grew +7% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 58% 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
In two steps, +2% to 2017 and +5% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +10% in Var.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 7.3%, a lower share than 96% 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
■ Salernes 54.1. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 65 and over at 34%, Salernes is ahead of 93% of compared French towns on that count. On average, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
In Salernes, 39% of households are one person living alone, more than in 65% 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 Var median and the France median
Living alone · share
On average, 2 people share a household. To put it in context, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Higher than in 71% of compared French towns: 11% of households are single parents.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €23,560 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.
At €23,560 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 77% of compared French towns. 20.0% of residents have a standard of living below 60% of France’s median.
Only 9.9% of households are headed by a manual worker in Salernes
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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 7.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Salernes. Against that, 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).
8.8% of residents are immigrants, a share 64% of compared French towns don’t reach
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: 6%, above 64% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 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.
Fewer single residents than 66% of compared French towns: 23%
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
Just over two in five residents 15 and over are married; in the typical compared French town the figure is 43%. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
Below 62% of compared French towns: 27% 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
Census figures put adults with no qualification at 19% in Salernes. In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
41 French towns of 3,995 to 4,039 people: this is the 6th 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.
Fay-de-Bretagne is the youngest (36.3); Vaux-sur-Mer the oldest (66.9).
Salernes is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Salernes
What is the population of Salernes?
4,019 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (3,764).
How old are Salernes’ residents?
The median age is 54.1, older than 93% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Salernes?
390, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Salernes?
INSEE counts 350 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.8% of residents, and 240 foreign nationals (6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Salernes?
€23,560 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 20.0% 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.