Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · CC BY-SA 4.01.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional, below 99% of compared French towns
Couples with children make up 20%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. Census figures put households without a car at 32% in Guise. With a median age of 47.9, Guise is older than nearly three quarters of compared French towns. 4,490 residents in 2,120 households: that is Guise at the 2023 Census.
Throughout this page, the Aisne 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 Guise
Fewer residents than in 2012
Guise had 5,182 residents at the 2012 census and 4,490 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 400 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.
Guise changed by −13% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 99% 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
The first five years brought −7%; the six to 2023, −7%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Aisne town −4%.
Guise sits above 78% of compared French towns for residents aged 65 and over (27%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Guise 47.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 12%, above 77% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aisne 52.5%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Guise: 44% of households are one person living alone, above 81% 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 Aisne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2 people. Single-parent households are more common here than in 56% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%.
A larger share of empty homes than 96% of compared French towns: 16%
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, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM); in Guise, 19%. On the census count, 36% of homes are flats. At 1%, the share of second homes is lower than in four fifths of compared French towns. The share of empty homes in the typical compared French town is 6.7%.
€19,250 a year: the median standard of living
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 Guise is €19,250 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 98% of compared French towns. One measure of hardship: 33.0% of residents are below the poverty line.
Guise: 43% of households are headed by a retired person, above 91% 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
Nearly a quarter of households are headed by a manual worker, against 14% in the typical compared French town. On average, nearly a third 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).
Only 1.8% of residents are immigrants in Guise
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 make up 1%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 94% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Aisne has 5.7%. For comparison, 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.
33% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 94% 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
In the typical compared French town, 25% of residents 15 and over are single; in Guise, 29%. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 11% in Guise, less than in 99% 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 the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%; Guise has 39%. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 4,463 to 4,521 people, the 13th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Jacob-Bellecombette (36.6), the youngest, and Banyuls-sur-Mer (60.7), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Guise
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guise | 47.9 | 27% | 1% | 1.8% |
| Bohain-en-Vermandois 5,605 · 9.7 mi | 41.1 | 21% | 0.8% | 4.9% |
| Fresnoy-le-Grand 2,890 · 9.9 mi | 44.1 | 23% | 1.2% | 2.7% |
| Vervins 2,549 · 13.4 mi | 42.2 | 23% | 2.2% | 4.2% |
| Le Cateau-Cambrésis 6,764 · 14.4 mi | 42 | 21% | 1.5% | 3.1% |
| Landrecies 3,407 · 15.5 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Saint-Quentin 52,813 · 15.6 mi | 41.3 | 23% | 1.6% | 9% |
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 Guise
What is the population of Guise?
4,490 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (5,182).
How old are Guise’s residents?
The median age is 47.9, older than 74% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Guise?
26, with occasional dwellings: 1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Guise?
INSEE counts 83 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.8% of residents, and 45 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Guise?
€19,250 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 33.0% 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.