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Collection · 4 plates

People across the land

Where São Paulo’s people live, tract by tract: density, the age and sex of each municipality, those aged 60 or over and who still lives in the countryside.

4 of 4 published

In reading order, from the first to the latest. All collections

The route

Read in order: each plate adds a layer to the one before.

Start with the first plate
  1. Plate 1/4 · No. 063 Where people live Half of São Paulo’s people fit in half a per cent of the state
  2. Plate 2/4 · No. 064 Age and sex The north-west grows old, the metropolis is young and prisons are men
  3. Plate 3/4 · No. 065 Those aged 60 and over One in six people in São Paulo, and one in three in the small towns of the north-west
  4. Plate 4/4 · No. 066 Urban and rural Three in every hundred people in São Paulo live in the countryside
Every plate, in full

No. 063 Census · income People across the land 1/4

Where people live

Half of São Paulo’s people fit in half a per cent of the state

Fig. 063 São Paulo State (SP) EPSG:4674 Source: IBGE

São Paulo has 44.4 million people on 248,000 km², 179 per km² on average. But the average misleads. Half the population lives in census tracts that together cover 1,238 km², 0.5% of the state; 90% live on 2.1%. At the other end, 81% of the area has fewer than 10 residents per km² and holds 1.3% of the people. The map is almost all cream, with dark dots for the towns and one continuous patch in Greater São Paulo, reaching towards Campinas, Sorocaba and the Paraíba Valley. The densest municipality is Taboão da Serra, with 13,428 residents per km², followed by Diadema and Carapicuíba; the capital has 7,521. The least dense is Iporanga, in the Ribeira Valley, with 3.5. First plate of the collection “People across the land”.

Technical record · downloads · citation

At a glance

Population by tract density (residents per km²) (people)
  • up to 10 1.3%
  • 10 to 100 1.4%
  • 100 to 1,000 3.8%
  • 1,000 to 5,000 22.5%
  • 5,000 to 15,000 39.4%
  • over 15,000 31.6%
Share of the land where half the population lives

0.5 %

1,238 km² of 248,219 km²

Residents per km² in the state

179 people per km²

Layers

  • setores polygon 103,319 tracts: area, people, residents per km², people by age group and density and 60-plus classes
  • regioes_intermediarias polygon 11 intermediate geographic regions
  • limite_estadual polygon State boundary

Metadata

Extent
São Paulo State (SP)
CRS / Projection
SIRGAS 2000 (EPSG:4674)
EPSG:4674
Software
Node.js · d3-geo · QGIS
Method
Residents per km² of each 2022 Census tract (the tract’s own area), in six classes; share of the state’s population and area in each class; cumulative area of tracts from densest to least dense until they hold half and 90% of the population.
Version
v1.0.0
Licence
CC BY 4.0

Downloads

Figure to reuse

The map without a frame, with legend, scale, reference system and credit written on it: ready for papers, lectures and slides. In two versions: with the basemap (neighbours and sea) or only the mapped area, on white.

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Point a camera at it to open this page.

How to cite

Cerejo, L. N. (2026). Onde mora a gente: metade dos paulistas cabe em meio por cento do estado [Where people live: Half of São Paulo’s people fit in half a per cent of the state] (Version 1.0.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23540311

No. 064 Census · income People across the land 2/4

Age and sex

The north-west grows old, the metropolis is young and prisons are men

Fig. 064 São Paulo State (SP) EPSG:4674 Source: IBGE

The median age in São Paulo is 36: half the people are younger, half older. But the state is ageing unevenly. In the north-west, in small towns such as Turmalina (51), Floreal and Santana da Ponte Pensa (47), there are already more people aged 65 or over than children up to 14: 90 municipalities are like this. In Greater São Paulo the index falls to 32 in Itapevi, three children per older person. In 446 of the 645 municipalities there are more women than men; Santos has 83 men per 100 women. The sex ratio map has dark blue patches: Balbinos has 444 men per 100 women, and 65% of its residents live in collective dwellings. Of the 29 towns with over 10% of their people in such dwellings, prisons among them, 27 exceed 110 men per 100 women. Second plate of the collection “People across the land”.

Technical record · downloads · citation

At a glance

Municipalities by median age (municipalities)
  • up to 32 years 2.6%
  • 33 to 35 22%
  • 36 to 38 42.9%
  • 39 to 41 24.7%
  • 42 to 44 5.9%
  • 45 or over 1.9%
Median age in the state

36 years

Municipalities with more people aged 65 or over than aged up to 14

90 municipalities

Municipalities with more women than men

446 municipalities

Layers

  • municipios polygon 645 municipalities: people, men, women, median age, ageing index, sex ratio, aged up to 14 and 60 or over, urban and rural households and residents, residents outside private households
  • regioes_intermediarias polygon 11 intermediate geographic regions
  • limite_estadual polygon State boundary

Metadata

Extent
São Paulo State (SP)
CRS / Projection
SIRGAS 2000 (EPSG:4674)
EPSG:4674
Software
Node.js · d3-geo · QGIS
Method
Median age, ageing index (people aged 65 or over per 100 aged up to 14) and sex ratio (men per 100 women) of the resident population by municipality, from SIDRA 9515, in six classes each; the state’s pyramid from SIDRA 9514; residents outside occupied permanent private households = population (9514) minus residents of those households (9922).
Version
v1.0.0
Licence
CC BY 4.0

Downloads

Figure to reuse

The map without a frame, with legend, scale, reference system and credit written on it: ready for papers, lectures and slides. In two versions: with the basemap (neighbours and sea) or only the mapped area, on white.

With basemap (PNG) Without basemap (PNG) QR code (SVG)

Point a camera at it to open this page.

How to cite

Cerejo, L. N. (2026). Idade e sexo: o noroeste envelhece, a metrópole é jovem e os presídios são homens [Age and sex: The north-west grows old, the metropolis is young and prisons are men] (Version 1.0.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23540341

No. 065 Census · income People across the land 3/4

Those aged 60 and over

One in six people in São Paulo, and one in three in the small towns of the north-west

Fig. 065 São Paulo State (SP) EPSG:4674 Source: IBGE

In 2022, 7.65 million people in São Paulo were aged 60 or over: 17.2% of the population, one in six. Over a million were past 80. Tract by tract, the map shows where they live. The dark blue of tracts where over 30% are 60 or older, home to 3.4 million people, spreads across the north-west and west: in the Presidente Prudente region, 20.1% are 60 or over; in the São Paulo region, 16.6%. In small towns such as Turmalina, Nova Canaã Paulista and Santana da Ponte Pensa, almost one in three; in Águas de São Pedro, 34%, the highest share in the state. Cajamar, in Greater São Paulo, is the youngest of the towns of over 50,000 people, with 10.6%. Plate 064 shows median age and the ageing index by municipality. Third plate of the collection “People across the land”.

Technical record · downloads · citation

At a glance

Population by share aged 60 or over in the tract (people)
  • up to 10% 20.9%
  • 10 to 15% 22.6%
  • 15 to 20% 21.9%
  • 20 to 25% 16.7%
  • 25 to 30% 10.2%
  • over 30% 7.7%
People aged 60 or over

17 %

7.65 million of 44.4 million

People aged 80 or over

1,067,356 people

Layers

  • setores polygon 103,319 tracts: people by age group and 60-plus class (the same layer as plate 063)
  • regioes_intermediarias polygon 11 intermediate geographic regions
  • limite_estadual polygon State boundary

Metadata

Extent
São Paulo State (SP)
CRS / Projection
SIRGAS 2000 (EPSG:4674)
EPSG:4674
Software
Node.js · d3-geo · QGIS
Method
People aged 60 to 69 and 70 or over as a share of each 2022 Census tract’s population, in six classes; confidential counts are worth 1 or 2, and a tract gets a class only when it is the same in both cases; state, municipal and regional totals from SIDRA 9514, without confidentiality.
Version
v1.0.0
Licence
CC BY 4.0

Downloads

Figure to reuse

The map without a frame, with legend, scale, reference system and credit written on it: ready for papers, lectures and slides. In two versions: with the basemap (neighbours and sea) or only the mapped area, on white.

With basemap (PNG) Without basemap (PNG) QR code (SVG)

Point a camera at it to open this page.

How to cite

Cerejo, L. N. (2026). Os de 60 anos ou mais: um em cada seis paulistas, e um em cada três nas cidades pequenas do noroeste [Those aged 60 and over: One in six people in São Paulo, and one in three in the small towns of the north-west] (Version 1.0.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23540365

No. 066 Census · income People across the land 4/4

Urban and rural

Three in every hundred people in São Paulo live in the countryside

Fig. 066 São Paulo State (SP) EPSG:4674 Source: IBGE

Of the 44.1 million residents of private households in São Paulo, 1.30 million live in rural areas: 2.9%, three in every hundred. The state’s countryside is concentrated in the south and east: in the Sorocaba intermediate region, 11% of residents are rural; in Presidente Prudente, 8%; in São Paulo, 0.7%. The map darkens in the Ribeira Valley and the upper Paranapanema, the Mantiqueira and the Serra do Mar, where towns are small and homes scattered. Pedra Bela, on the border with Minas Gerais, has 73% of its residents in the countryside, and 14 municipalities have a rural majority. In numbers, the largest countryside is Mogi das Cruzes’s, with 27,000 rural residents, ahead of Ibiúna and Piedade; the capital has 16,000. Five municipalities in Greater São Paulo, and Águas de São Pedro, have none. Last plate of the collection “People across the land”.

Technical record · downloads · citation

At a glance

Rural residents by the municipality’s rural share (people)
  • up to 2% 11.1%
  • 2 to 5% 14.8%
  • 5 to 10% 22.1%
  • 10 to 20% 19.4%
  • 20 to 40% 20.5%
  • over 40% 12.1%
Residents of rural households

2.9 %

1.30 million of 44.1 million

Municipalities with a rural majority

14 municipalities

Layers

  • municipios polygon 645 municipalities: urban and rural households and residents, rural share, age and sex (the same layer as plate 064)
  • regioes_intermediarias polygon 11 intermediate geographic regions
  • limite_estadual polygon State boundary

Metadata

Extent
São Paulo State (SP)
CRS / Projection
SIRGAS 2000 (EPSG:4674)
EPSG:4674
Software
Node.js · d3-geo · QGIS
Method
Residents of occupied permanent private households in rural areas over all residents of those households, by municipality, from SIDRA 9922, in six classes; municipalities with no rural residents shown apart.
Version
v1.0.0
Licence
CC BY 4.0

Downloads

Figure to reuse

The map without a frame, with legend, scale, reference system and credit written on it: ready for papers, lectures and slides. In two versions: with the basemap (neighbours and sea) or only the mapped area, on white.

With basemap (PNG) Without basemap (PNG) QR code (SVG)

Point a camera at it to open this page.

How to cite

Cerejo, L. N. (2026). Urbano e rural: três em cada cem paulistas moram no campo [Urban and rural: Three in every hundred people in São Paulo live in the countryside] (Version 1.0.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23540400

Technical record

Technical record · No. 063

Where people live

At a glance

Population by tract density (residents per km²) (people)
  • up to 10 1.3%
  • 10 to 100 1.4%
  • 100 to 1,000 3.8%
  • 1,000 to 5,000 22.5%
  • 5,000 to 15,000 39.4%
  • over 15,000 31.6%
Share of the land where half the population lives

0.5 %

1,238 km² of 248,219 km²

Residents per km² in the state

179 people per km²

Layers

  • setores polygon 103,319 tracts: area, people, residents per km², people by age group and density and 60-plus classes
  • regioes_intermediarias polygon 11 intermediate geographic regions
  • limite_estadual polygon State boundary

Metadata

Extent
São Paulo State (SP)
CRS / Projection
SIRGAS 2000 (EPSG:4674)
EPSG:4674
Software
Node.js · d3-geo · QGIS
Method
Residents per km² of each 2022 Census tract (the tract’s own area), in six classes; share of the state’s population and area in each class; cumulative area of tracts from densest to least dense until they hold half and 90% of the population.
Version
v1.0.0
Licence
CC BY 4.0

Downloads

Figure to reuse

The map without a frame, with legend, scale, reference system and credit written on it: ready for papers, lectures and slides. In two versions: with the basemap (neighbours and sea) or only the mapped area, on white.

With basemap (PNG) Without basemap (PNG) QR code (SVG)

Point a camera at it to open this page.

How to cite

Cerejo, L. N. (2026). Onde mora a gente: metade dos paulistas cabe em meio por cento do estado [Where people live: Half of São Paulo’s people fit in half a per cent of the state] (Version 1.0.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23540311

Data and plates under CC BY 4.0: use them in commercial drawings and papers, citing the source.

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