Chemy: 39% of households are couples with children, above 98% of compared French towns
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In Chemy, 3.5% of homes stand empty. At the 2023 Census Chemy was home to 766 people in 310 households. Households in social housing: 1.9%, below 97% 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 Chemy
A town of families
39% of households are couples with children and 4.8% single parents with children; 17% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Many graduates
50% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 19% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Growth of +8% since 2012 puts Chemy ahead of 63% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Nord town ±0%.
Older than 59% of compared French towns: half of Chemy is over 45.3
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chemy 45.3. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over; in Chemy, 21%. On the census count, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 20% in Chemy, less than in 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
There are 2.5 people in the average household. Few places have so few single-parent households: 4.8% here, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
In Chemy, 4.3% of households have no car, fewer than in 92% 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
Of all households, 3.9% moved in during the last two years and 28% have stayed three decades or more. 2.1% of homes are second homes, a lower share than in 51% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €32,430 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.
The median standard of living in Chemy is €32,430 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 92% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker make up 4.8% in Chemy, less than in 97% 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
Where nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, Chemy has 38%. What’s more, households headed by a manager or professional are more common here than in four fifths of compared French towns. For households headed by a manual worker, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Chemy ranks below 99% of compared French towns on immigrants: 0.9%
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.
In the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals is 4.3%; Chemy has 0.5%. 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.
More married residents than 95% of compared French towns: 51%
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
Here 20% of residents 15 and over are single, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
Chemy sits below 98% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (8.6%)
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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, half of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Chemy. The usual figure: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 21st oldest of 41 French towns of 766 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.
No nearby town is as old as Chemy
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemy | 45.3 | 21% | 2.1% | 0.9% |
| Gondecourt 4,148 · 1.2 mi | 43 | 20% | 0.8% | 2.1% |
| Phalempin 4,847 · 1.4 mi | 44.7 | 23% | 0.6% | 2.7% |
| Allennes-les-Marais 3,545 · 2 mi | 43.1 | 18% | 0.7% | 2% |
| Seclin 13,261 · 2 mi | 39.6 | 19% | 0.6% | 5.4% |
| Annœullin 10,847 · 2.7 mi | 39.5 | 17% | 0.4% | 3.3% |
| Houplin-Ancoisne 3,326 · 2.9 mi | 43.4 | 22% | 1.2% | 3.1% |
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 Chemy
What is the population of Chemy?
766 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% more than in 2012 (710).
How old are Chemy’s residents?
The median age is 45.3, older than 59% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chemy?
7, with occasional dwellings: 2.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chemy?
INSEE counts 7 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.9% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (0.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chemy?
€32,430 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.