A smaller share of flats than 90% of compared French towns: 8.1%
Couples with children: 30% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. Cantin had 1,741 residents in 700 households at the 2023 Census. On the census count, 18% of households are headed by a manual worker. Fewer second homes than in 98% of compared French towns: 0.3%.
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.
A growing town: +16% since 2012, faster than 84% 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 +5%, and from 2017 to 2023 +10%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Nord town ±0%.
Cantin is younger than 77% of compared French towns: a median age of 40.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Cantin 40.4. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over trails 71% of compared French towns: 19%. Here, nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
In Cantin, 30% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 76% 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
The typical household size is 2.4 people. The share of one-person households in the typical compared French town is 35%. Across Cantin, just over one in ten households are single parents.
17% of households rent social housing (HLM), a share 68% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
7.5% of households moved in less than two years ago; 24% have been in their home 30 years or more. Against that, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few households without a car: 8.1% here, fewer than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. Empty homes make up 6.8%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €24,370 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.
At €24,370 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 67% of compared French towns.
The largest group of households: retired (32%)
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
Census figures put households headed by a manager or professional at 8.6% in Cantin.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of immigrants than 90% of compared French towns, at 2.1%
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 figure for foreign nationals is 1.5% in Cantin and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Nord has 4.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 90% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A larger share of single residents than 59% of compared French towns: 26%
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
Just over two in five residents 15 and over are married. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 56% 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. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 4th youngest of 41 French towns of 1,741 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Cantin sits below 3 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cantin | 40.4 | 19% | 0.3% | 2.1% |
| Arleux 3,125 · 2.1 mi | 43.3 | 21% | 12% | 1.4% |
| Dechy 5,338 · 2.9 mi | 40 | 21% | 0.3% | 5.4% |
| Guesnain 4,635 · 2.9 mi | 42.9 | 24% | 0.1% | 4.4% |
| Courchelettes 2,855 · 3.6 mi | 47.3 | 27% | 0.7% | 2.9% |
| Sin-le-Noble 16,076 · 3.6 mi | 39.7 | 18% | 0.7% | 6% |
| Monchecourt 2,516 · 3.7 mi | 39.3 | 19% | 0.9% | 1.1% |
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 Cantin
What is the population of Cantin?
1,741 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 16% more than in 2012 (1,499).
How old are Cantin’s residents?
The median age is 40.4, younger than 77% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Cantin?
3, with occasional dwellings: 0.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Cantin?
INSEE counts 36 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.1% of residents, and 26 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Cantin?
€24,370 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 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.