Above 88% of compared French towns: 33% of households are couples with children
The figure for households in social housing is 26% in Comines and 12% in the typical compared French town. There were 5,220 households in the town at the 2023 Census, home to 12,731 residents. Households headed by a manual worker come to 22% here, about two in ten. Fewer residents aged 65 and over than in 81% of compared French towns: 17%.
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 Comines
A town of families
33% of households are couples with children and 12% single parents with children; 19% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Comines’s population moved ±0% on 2012, less than in 72% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −3%, then +3% to 2023.
Half of Comines is under 40.7, younger than 75% 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
■ Comines 40.7. The median compared French town: 44.
In Comines, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24, beside 11% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
31% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 73% 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 single-parent households is 12% in Comines and 10% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for one-person households is 35% in the typical compared French town. A household here holds 2.4 people on average.
Above 69% of compared French towns: 15% of households have no car
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 arrived within the last two years, while 21% have stayed 30 years or more. Comines has fewer empty homes than nearly three quarters of compared French towns, at 5.1%. The benchmark for households without a car in the typical compared French town: 11%. By its share of flats (23%), Comines is below 63% of compared French towns.
A typical living standard of €25,070 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 Comines is €25,070 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 59% of compared French towns. Some 16.0% of residents fall below the poverty line.
Households headed by a retired person make up 28% in Comines, less than in 72% 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
Compared with other places, households headed by a manager or professional are scarce here: 9.2%, fewer than in 51% of compared French towns. The share of households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Comines: 8.4% of residents are immigrants, above 63% 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.
6.1% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 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 larger share of single residents than 65% of compared French towns: 27%
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
Married residents: 44% of the total. Against that, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Comines sits above 84% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (27%)
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
By its share of graduates of higher education (25%), Comines is below 69% of compared French towns. For comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 9th youngest of 41 French towns of 12,416 to 13,045 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.
The youngest is Villetaneuse (33.2), the oldest Andernos-les-Bains (60).
Comines sits below 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comines | 40.7 | 17% | 1.3% | 8.4% |
| Wervicq-Sud 5,426 · 2 mi | 39.8 | 17% | 0.4% | 8.5% |
| Bousbecque 4,978 · 3 mi | 42.2 | 18% | 0.6% | 3.9% |
| Quesnoy-sur-Deûle 6,805 · 3 mi | 42.6 | 19% | 1% | 2.8% |
| Linselles 8,161 · 3.4 mi | 45.2 | 23% | 0.4% | 3.4% |
| Frelinghien 2,609 · 4.5 mi | 43.1 | 20% | 0.6% | 2.9% |
| Roncq 14,075 · 4.9 mi | 41.7 | 20% | 0.3% | 5.7% |
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 Comines
What is the population of Comines?
12,731 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (12,787).
How old are Comines’ residents?
The median age is 40.7, younger than 75% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Comines?
72, with occasional dwellings: 1.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Comines?
INSEE counts 1,070 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.4% of residents, and 770 foreign nationals (6.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Comines?
€25,070 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.