36% of households are couples with children, a share 94% of compared French towns don’t reach
Flats make up 4.2%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census, 1,951 people lived in Caëstre, in 790 households. In Caëstre, 5.4% of households rent social housing (HLM). With a median age of 41.2, Caëstre is younger than 71% 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.
What stands out about the people of Caëstre
A town of families
36% of households are couples with children and 4.5% single parents with children; 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A +2% change since 2012: slower than 60% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved +4%, and from 2017 to 2023 −1%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Nord town ±0%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 18%, a lower share than 76% 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
■ Caëstre 41.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 9.7%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over 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%.
4.5% of households are single parents, below 99% 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
Average household size: 2.4 people. Compared with other places, one-person households are scarce here: 25%, fewer than in 93% of compared French towns. To put it in context, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
Empty homes: 4.7%, a lower share than 79% 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
Here 1.1% of homes are second homes, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. For empty homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.7%. Put another way, about one in 11: 9.3% of households have no car.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €28,030 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.
At €28,030 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 71% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 62% of compared French towns: 7.6%
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
Compared with 32% in the typical compared French town, 34% of households are headed by a retired person here. The wider picture: 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. Across Caëstre, 13% 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 lower share of immigrants than 92% of compared French towns, at 1.9%
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.
Foreign nationals: 0.9%, below 96% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 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.
More married residents than 91% of compared French towns: 50%
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 Caëstre, just over a fifth of residents 15 and over are single, beside 25% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 34%, a higher share than 62% 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
On the census count, 18% of adults out of school have no qualification. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Ranked by age, 6th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Caëstre and its 6 nearest towns: 5 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caëstre | 41.2 | 18% | 1.1% | 1.9% |
| Hazebrouck 21,912 · 3.8 mi | 43.3 | 23% | 1% | 3.1% |
| Steenvoorde 4,332 · 3.9 mi | 45.3 | 25% | 1.5% | 2.1% |
| Vieux-Berquin 2,628 · 4.4 mi | 42.2 | 19% | 0.8% | 1.1% |
| Bailleul 14,732 · 5.8 mi | 44.2 | 23% | 0.8% | 2.9% |
| Morbecque 2,573 · 6 mi | 44.5 | 22% | 1.4% | 1.2% |
| Merville 9,808 · 8 mi | 39 | 18% | 1.2% | 1.8% |
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 Caëstre
What is the population of Caëstre?
1,951 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (1,906).
How old are Caëstre’s residents?
The median age is 41.2, younger than 71% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Caëstre?
9, with occasional dwellings: 1.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Caëstre?
INSEE counts 38 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.9% of residents, and 17 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Caëstre?
€28,030 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 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.