1.1% of homes are flats, below 99% of compared French towns
Here 2.9% of households have no car, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. At 14%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 93% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 357 residents in Clairfayts, living in 130 households. One-person households make up about one in six here (18%).
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 Clairfayts
Immigrants
INSEE counts 100 immigrants in Clairfayts (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 27% of residents, against 4.1% for the median compared commune in Nord. 26% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Empty homes
The census found 19 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−3% since 2012, a pace below 82% 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 +1%, and from 2017 to 2023 −4%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Nord town ±0%.
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 87% of compared French towns, at 16%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Clairfayts 40.2. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Clairfayts is 40.2, lower than in 78% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
In Clairfayts, 24% of households are single parents, more 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
The figure for couples with children is 29% in Clairfayts and 25% in the typical compared French town. Each household has 2.7 people on average. Across the comparison, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
In Clairfayts, 12% of homes stand empty, more than in 88% 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 in social housing: 5.1% here and 12% in the typical compared French town. Empty homes make up 6.7% in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 3.9% of homes are second homes.
Median living standard: €23,400 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €23,400 a year: lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
Clairfayts: 24% of households are headed by a manager or professional, above 93% 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
29% of households are headed by a retired person, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manual worker: 12% of the total.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 27%, a higher share than 97% of compared French towns
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.
With foreign nationals at 26%, Clairfayts is ahead of 99% of compared French towns on that count. Measured more widely, 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.
Single residents make up 29% in Clairfayts, more than in 74% 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
Across Clairfayts, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
Clairfayts ranks below 81% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 14%
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, Clairfayts has 34%. Elsewhere, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 3rd 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 5 are older than Clairfayts
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clairfayts | 40.2 | 16% | 3.9% | 27% |
| Sains-du-Nord 2,755 · 6.6 mi | 43.3 | 24% | 2.3% | 2.3% |
| Trélon 2,604 · 7.1 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 2.1% | 5.9% |
| Ferrière-la-Grande 5,131 · 8.5 mi | 39.8 | 20% | 0.5% | 5% |
| Avesnes-sur-Helpe 4,012 · 8.9 mi | 42.7 | 21% | 0.9% | 4.6% |
| Rousies 3,980 · 9.3 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 0.7% | 4.7% |
| Marpent 2,653 · 9.4 mi | 42.1 | 22% | 0.6% | 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 Clairfayts
What is the population of Clairfayts?
357 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (369).
How old are Clairfayts’ residents?
The median age is 40.2, younger than 78% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Clairfayts?
6, with occasional dwellings: 3.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Clairfayts?
INSEE counts 97 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 27% of residents, and 91 foreign nationals (26%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Clairfayts?
€23,400 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.