This is the 1197th most frequent Russian word.
жителя
"Resident" or "inhabitant."
Here, "житель" is used in the nominative singular form to indicate an individual living in the village.
У деревни был только один житель.
The village had only one resident.
The word "жителей" is in the plural genitive case here, referring to inhabitants of an area.
В этом районе много жителей.
There are many residents in this area.
"Жители" is in the plural nominative case, referring to a group of inhabitants of the city.