A lower share of households headed by a manager or professional than 96% of compared French towns, at 3.4%
The share of households without a car tops 89% of compared French towns: 23%. On the census count, 13% of households are single parents. Compared with other places, empty homes are common here: 9.9%, more than in 78% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Tergnier was home to 13,045 people in 6,040 households.
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 Tergnier
Fewer residents than in 2012
Tergnier had 14,110 residents at the 2012 census and 13,045 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Social housing
29% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 20% rent privately and 50% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Tergnier changed by −8% from 2012 to 2023, behind 94% 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 those years, the median Aisne town changed −4% and the median compared French town +5%.
Younger than 62% of compared French towns: half of Tergnier is under 42.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Tergnier 42.5. The median compared French town: 44.
On residents aged 15 to 24, 11% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in five: 21% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aisne 52.5%, France 51.8%.
Above 71% of compared French towns: 40% of households are one person living alone
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
In the typical compared French town, a quarter of households are couples with children; in Tergnier, 23%. On average, 2.1 people share a household. Elsewhere, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of households in social housing than 91% of compared French towns: 29%
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
Against a figure of 2.1% in the typical compared French town, the share of second homes in Tergnier comes in at 1%. What’s more, 28% of homes are flats, a lower share than in 53% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
At the median, €20,680 a year to live on
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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €20,680 a year: lower than in 95% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 27.0% of residents.
21% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 87% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
In Tergnier, just over a third of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Tergnier: 6.7% of residents are immigrants
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.
Here, 5.1% of residents are foreign nationals. That is higher than in 52% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Aisne has 5.7%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 38% of residents 15 and over are married in Tergnier
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 Tergnier, 28% of residents 15 and over are single, beside 25% in the typical compared French town. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Graduates of higher education make up 13% in Tergnier, 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
The share of adults with no qualification tops 93% of compared French towns: 31%. In the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education is 30%.
Ranked by age, 19th youngest of 41 French towns this size
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 32.3 in Val-de-Reuil to 61.8 in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez.
4 of 6 neighbors are older than Tergnier
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Tergnier
What is the population of Tergnier?
13,045 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (14,110).
How old are Tergnier’s residents?
The median age is 42.5, younger than 62% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Tergnier?
69, with occasional dwellings: 1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Tergnier?
INSEE counts 880 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.7% of residents, and 660 foreign nationals (5.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Tergnier?
€20,680 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 27.0% 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.