Photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT · CC BY 4.056% of homes in Bray-Dunes are second homes
By its share of empty homes (3.2%), Bray-Dunes is below 94% of compared French towns. Compared with other places, households headed by a retired person are common here: 49%, more than in 97% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Bray-Dunes was home to 4,189 people in 1,990 households. The census found that 8.9% of residents are 15 to 24 locally.
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 Bray-Dunes
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 2,750 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bray-Dunes, 56% of its 4,900 homes: higher than in 98% of compared French towns. 20% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Bray-Dunes had 4,609 residents at the 2012 census and 4,189 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Bray-Dunes’ residents are under 52.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Flats make up 43% in Bray-Dunes, more than in 68% of compared French towns
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
Households that moved in under two years ago: 6.4%. Those in their home 30 years or more: 30%. 12% of households have no car; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%.
A change of −9% since 2012 leaves Bray-Dunes behind 96% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −3%, then −7% to 2023. Over those years, the median Nord town changed ±0% and the median compared French town +5%.
Half of Bray-Dunes is over 52.7, older than 90% 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
■ Bray-Dunes 52.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Bray-Dunes has 32%.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
Below 77% of compared French towns: 19% of households are couples with children
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
There are 2.1 people in the average household. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%. Nothing unusual on single-parent households: 9.5%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Median standard of living: €25,360 a year
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.
Living standards centre on €25,360 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 56% of compared French towns. 16.0% of residents live below the poverty line INSEE uses.
5.8% of households are headed by a manager or professional, below 78% 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
On the census count, 13% of households are headed by a manual worker. Elsewhere, nearly one in ten 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).
Fewer immigrants than 65% of compared French towns: 4.8%
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.
The median compared commune in Nord has 4.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 65% of compared French towns. For comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The share of foreign nationals stands at 3.8%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
21% of residents 15 and over are single, below 88% 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
Set against 43% in the typical compared French town, 47% of residents 15 and over are married in Bray-Dunes. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Bray-Dunes ranks below 71% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 24%
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
By its share of adults with no qualification (21%), Bray-Dunes is above 62% of compared French towns. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
5th highest median age among 41 French towns of 4,160 to 4,222
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 Salouël (32.5), the youngest, and Le Pouliguen (67.6), the oldest.
Every neighbor is younger than Bray-Dunes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bray-Dunes | 52.7 | 32% | 56% | 4.8% |
| Ghyvelde 4,133 · 1.7 mi | 45.3 | 21% | 15% | 3.6% |
| Leffrinckoucke 4,078 · 3.6 mi | 52.1 | 28% | 3% | 3.4% |
| Téteghem-Coudekerque-Village 8,247 · 5.3 mi | 49.5 | 22% | 3.2% | 2.6% |
| Coudekerque-Branche 20,787 · 6.7 mi | 43 | 20% | 0.9% | 3.4% |
| Dunkerque 86,263 · 7 mi | 43.7 | 23% | 3.9% | 7.1% |
| Hondschoote 3,957 · 7 mi | 43 | 22% | 1.7% | 2.9% |
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 Bray-Dunes
What is the population of Bray-Dunes?
4,189 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (4,609).
How old are Bray-Dunes’ residents?
The median age is 52.7, older than 90% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bray-Dunes?
2,750, with occasional dwellings: 56% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bray-Dunes?
INSEE counts 200 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.8% of residents, and 160 foreign nationals (3.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bray-Dunes?
€25,360 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 9, 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.