A lower share of households without a car than 99% of compared French towns, at 1.7%
Residents aged 15 to 24: 6.7%, below 98% of compared French towns. Put another way, about one in six: 18% of households are one person living alone. More second homes than in 85% of compared French towns: 7.9%. Census day 2023: 135 residents and 58 households in Capelle.
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 Capelle
Fewer residents than in 2012
Capelle had 161 residents at the 2012 census and 135 in 2023, down 16%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Capelle changed by −16% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 99% 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
The median Nord town changed ±0% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −5% and the next six −12%.
A median age of 50: Capelle is older than 83% 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
■ Capelle 50. The median compared French town: 44.
Here a quarter of residents are 65 or over, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 22%.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
18% of households are single parents, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 average household has 2.3 people. Against that, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Capelle has fewer couples with children than 81% of compared French towns, at 18%.
Capelle ranks above 79% of compared French towns on empty homes: 9.9%
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
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Long tenure is the mark of 43% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 3.4% (under two years).
The median resident lives on €27,470 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €27,470 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 66% of compared French towns.
Capelle ranks below 76% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 27%
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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 18% 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 89% of compared French towns: 2.2%
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.
1.5% of residents are foreign nationals (typical compared French town: 4.3%). The median compared commune in Nord has 4.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 89% of compared French towns. On average, 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.
A smaller share of single residents than 99% of compared French towns: 16%
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
45% are married and 13% in a PACS, against 43% and 6.1% in the median compared French town; 2.7% are widowed. The wider picture: a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
In Capelle, 14% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 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
Where 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, Capelle has 39%. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
The 14th oldest of 41 French towns of 135 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Every neighbor is younger than Capelle
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capelle | 50 | 25% | 7.9% | 2.2% |
| Le Quesnoy 4,878 · 4.1 mi | 46.3 | 27% | 1.6% | 3% |
| Solesmes 4,142 · 4.4 mi | 44.9 | 23% | 2.1% | 1.2% |
| Maing 3,954 · 5.6 mi | 43.8 | 23% | 0.8% | 2.7% |
| Haspres 2,626 · 6 mi | 41.4 | 20% | 0.2% | 1.1% |
| Thiant 2,914 · 6.4 mi | 39.6 | 17% | 1.8% | 1.7% |
| Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes 7,080 · 6.5 mi | 35.9 | 19% | 0.8% | 7.9% |
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 Capelle
What is the population of Capelle?
135 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 16% fewer than in 2012 (161).
How old are Capelle’s residents?
The median age is 50, older than 83% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Capelle?
6, with occasional dwellings: 7.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Capelle?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.2% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Capelle?
€27,470 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.