Serain sits below 99% of compared French towns for households in social housing (0.6%)
Against a figure of 32% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person in Serain comes in at 52%. 8.9% of residents are 15 to 24, or about one in 11. More second homes than in 78% of compared French towns: 5.2%. The town had 380 residents in 170 households 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 Serain
Fewer residents than in 2012
Serain had 405 residents at the 2012 census and 380 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 91% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −6% since 2012, behind 91% 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 years 2012 to 2017 brought ±0%; 2017 to 2023, −6%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Aisne town −4%.
Only 19% of residents are 65 or over in Serain
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Serain 42.5. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 42.5, Serain is younger than 62% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aisne 52.5%, France 51.8%.
Couples with children: 27%, a higher share than 61% 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
There is little gap on single-parent households: 9.1%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. Fewer one-person households than in 59% of compared French towns: 33%. For comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Each household has 2.3 people on average.
Above 74% of compared French towns: 9.3% of homes stand empty
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
Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 4.8% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 30%. As a reference point, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. With households without a car at 9.6%, Serain is behind 56% of compared French towns on that count.
€22,270 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 midpoint of living standards here is €22,270 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 87% of compared French towns.
Below 97% of compared French towns: 3% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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
With households headed by a manual worker at 27%, Serain is ahead of 99% of compared French towns on that count. Households headed by a manager or professional make up 9.4% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Serain ranks below 99% of compared French towns on immigrants: 1.1%
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.
By its share of foreign nationals (0.5%), Serain is below 99% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 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.
Single residents make up 20% in Serain, less than in 92% 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
41% of residents 15 and over are married (typical compared French town: 43%). For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 97% of compared French towns, at 15%
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
Nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, against 27% in Serain. In the typical compared French town, graduates of higher education come to 30%.
41 French towns of 380 to 2,582 people: this is the 10th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Median age: 3 of the 6 towns around Serain are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serain | 42.5 | 19% | 5.2% | 1.1% |
| Bohain-en-Vermandois 5,605 · 4.8 mi | 41.1 | 21% | 0.8% | 4.9% |
| Fresnoy-le-Grand 2,890 · 6 mi | 44.1 | 23% | 1.2% | 2.7% |
| Caudry 13,833 · 6.8 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 1% | 2.4% |
| Masnières 2,689 · 9.2 mi | 40 | 19% | 0.7% | 2.1% |
| Le Cateau-Cambrésis 6,764 · 9.3 mi | 42 | 21% | 1.5% | 3.1% |
| Cambrai 31,134 · 11.4 mi | 45 | 24% | 1.8% | 5.1% |
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 Serain
What is the population of Serain?
380 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (405).
How old are Serain’s residents?
The median age is 42.5, younger than 62% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Serain?
10, with occasional dwellings: 5.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Serain?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.1% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (0.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Serain?
€22,270 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.