Sainte-Barbe: 17% of homes stand empty, above 98% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Put another way, about one in three: 35% of households are headed by a manual worker. There were 120 households in Sainte-Barbe at the 2023 Census, home to 267 residents. Single-parent households make up 4.3%, against 10% in the typical compared French town.
Throughout this page, the Vosges 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-Barbe
Empty homes
The census found 26 homes empty (17%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Sainte-Barbe had 279 residents at the 2012 census and 267 in 2023, down 4%: slower growth than in 86% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Sainte-Barbe has changed by −4%, slower than 86% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Vosges town −6%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was ±0%; from 2017 to 2023, −4%.
Sainte-Barbe ranks below 76% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 18%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Sainte-Barbe 44.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 13% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. The median age in Sainte-Barbe is 44.6, higher than in 53% of compared French towns. For comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vosges 52.1%, France 51.8%.
Sainte-Barbe ranks above 67% of compared French towns on one-person households: 39%
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 Vosges median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.2 people. As a yardstick, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. On couples with children, Sainte-Barbe sits higher than 53% of compared French towns: 26%.
Fewer flats than 86% of compared French towns: 11%
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, 2.1% of homes are second homes; in Sainte-Barbe, 6.6%. The town has fewer households without a car than 51% of compared French towns, at 10%. Typically, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €23,960 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 median standard of living in Sainte-Barbe is €23,960 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 72% of compared French towns.
Sainte-Barbe ranks below 80% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 26%
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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. On average, 32% 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).
Immigrants make up 0% of Sainte-Barbe’s residents
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.
Immigrants are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A smaller share of single residents than 73% 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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 45% in Sainte-Barbe. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Graduates of higher education make up 20% in Sainte-Barbe, less than in 85% 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
Adults with no qualification make up 22%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (267 to 2,582 people), the 17th youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Sainte-Barbe is younger 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Barbe | 44.6 | 18% | 6.6% | 0% |
| Baccarat 4,089 · 3.7 mi | 49.7 | 30% | 3.8% | 4.1% |
| Raon-l'Étape 5,886 · 5.5 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 2.8% | 4.4% |
| Rambervillers 5,018 · 5.5 mi | 47 | 26% | 1.4% | 7.3% |
| Moyenmoutier 3,134 · 8.5 mi | 49.7 | 27% | 4.5% | 2.4% |
| Saint-Dié-des-Vosges 19,251 · 12.7 mi | 46.5 | 27% | 2.9% | 12% |
| Bruyères 2,923 · 13.1 mi | 51.4 | 32% | 4.3% | 5% |
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-Barbe
What is the population of Sainte-Barbe?
267 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (279).
How old are Sainte-Barbe’s residents?
The median age is 44.6, older than 53% of compared French towns. 26% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sainte-Barbe?
10, with occasional dwellings: 6.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sainte-Barbe?
INSEE counts 0 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sainte-Barbe?
€23,960 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 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.