A lower share of households in social housing than 89% of compared French towns, at 4.5%
Flats make up 10%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Bollezeele had 1,445 residents in 590 households at the 2023 Census. Here, 22% of households are headed by a manual worker. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are common here: 25%, more than in 68% of compared French towns.
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.
+1% since 2012, a pace below 64% 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
Only 9.3% of residents are 15 to 24 in Bollezeele
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bollezeele 45.5. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 45.5, Bollezeele is older than three fifths of compared French towns. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
30% of households are one person living alone, below 74% 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 Nord median and the France median
Living alone · share
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 29% of households are couples with children in Bollezeele. 8.3% of households are single parents. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town.
Below 69% of compared French towns: 7.6% of households have no car
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
9.3% of households arrived within the last two years, while 25% have stayed 30 years or more. In the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%. More second homes than in three fifths of compared French towns: 2.9%. Bollezeele sits close to the norm on empty homes: 6.9%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €24,590 a year per consumption unit
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 €24,590 a year: lower than in 65% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manager or professional than 71% of compared French towns, at 6.6%
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
32% of households are headed by a retired person. Elsewhere, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 1.1% of residents are immigrants in Bollezeele
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Nord has 4.1%. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%. Across Bollezeele, 0.5% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of single residents than 80% of compared French towns, at 22%
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
On married residents, Bollezeele sits lower than 58% of compared French towns: 42%. By way of comparison, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 22%, a lower share than 78% 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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Bollezeele comes in at 23%. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 21st oldest 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Older than Bollezeele: 1 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bollezeele | 45.5 | 25% | 2.9% | 1.1% |
| Watten 2,564 · 5.6 mi | 43 | 23% | 2.9% | 1% |
| Wormhout 5,584 · 6.1 mi | 45.4 | 25% | 1.1% | 1.2% |
| Bourbourg 6,931 · 8 mi | 40.4 | 21% | 1.3% | 1.4% |
| Éperlecques 3,737 · 8 mi | 39.8 | 18% | 3.4% | 0.5% |
| Bergues 3,525 · 8.4 mi | 49.6 | 30% | 1.9% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Omer 14,382 · 8.4 mi | 36.7 | 17% | 2.4% | 5.5% |
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 Bollezeele
What is the population of Bollezeele?
1,445 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% more than in 2012 (1,425).
How old are Bollezeele’s residents?
The median age is 45.5, older than 60% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bollezeele?
19, with occasional dwellings: 2.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bollezeele?
INSEE counts 17 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.1% of residents, and 8 foreign nationals (0.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bollezeele?
€24,590 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.