Photo: Marmontel · CC BY 2.027% of households rent social housing (HLM), a share 89% of compared French towns don’t reach
Half of Bergues’s residents are over 49.6, older than in 82% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Bergues was home to 3,525 people in 1,720 households. For Bergues, the census puts couples with children at 18%. Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, nearly a fifth of households have no car here.
Throughout this page, the Nord 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 Bergues
Fewer residents than in 2012
Bergues had 3,910 residents at the 2012 census and 3,525 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Bergues changed by −10% from 2012 to 2023, behind 97% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% for the median Nord town, the change came in two steps: −7% from 2012 to 2017, then −4% to 2023.
30% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 85% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bergues 49.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 10% of residents are 15 to 24 here. As a reference point, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 84 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A larger share of one-person households than 82% of compared French towns: 44%
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 Nord median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 1.9 people on average. On average, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 10%.
Above 80% of compared French towns: 10% 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
Without a car: one household in five, against 11% in the median compared French town. On the census count, 46% of homes are flats. Empty homes: 6.7% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
€24,240 a year is the median standard of living here
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.
Half of residents live in households above €24,240 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 68% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 16.0% of residents.
Households headed by a retired person make up 35% in Bergues, more than in 66% 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
The figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 7.3% in Bergues and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town: 32%. On the census count, 17% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 97% of compared French towns: 1.4%
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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 0.7% of residents are foreign nationals here. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Bergues, 35% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 90% 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
The census found that 25% of residents 15 and over are single in Bergues. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
28% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 86% 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 graduates of higher education is 30%; Bergues has 27%. Typically, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
16th highest median age among 41 French towns of 3,508 to 3,543
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 Rubelles (34.9), the youngest, and Deauville (63.3), the oldest.
Bergues is younger than 1 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bergues | 49.6 | 30% | 1.9% | 1.4% |
| Hoymille 3,259 · 0.7 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 1.8% | 1.1% |
| Téteghem-Coudekerque-Village 8,247 · 3.5 mi | 49.5 | 22% | 3.2% | 2.6% |
| Cappelle-la-Grande 7,839 · 3.5 mi | 40.6 | 19% | 0.3% | 2% |
| Coudekerque-Branche 20,787 · 4.2 mi | 43 | 20% | 0.9% | 3.4% |
| Dunkerque 86,263 · 5.3 mi | 43.7 | 23% | 3.9% | 7.1% |
| Leffrinckoucke 4,078 · 5.7 mi | 52.1 | 28% | 3% | 3.4% |
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 Bergues
What is the population of Bergues?
3,525 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (3,910).
How old are Bergues’ residents?
The median age is 49.6, older than 82% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bergues?
38, with occasional dwellings: 1.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bergues?
INSEE counts 50 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.4% of residents, and 26 foreign nationals (0.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bergues?
€24,240 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.0% 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 8, 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.