Photo: ThomasInTheSky · CC BY-SA 4.0Above 92% of compared French towns: 23% of households are headed by a manager or professional
The median age in Croix is 39.1, lower than in 84% of compared French towns. There were 9,660 households in the town at the 2023 Census, home to 20,566 residents. Households without a car: just over a fifth of the total. With flats at 47%, Croix is ahead of 72% of compared French towns on that count.
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 change of ±0% since 2012 leaves Croix behind 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
The first five years brought +2%; the six to 2023, −2%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Nord town ±0%.
18% of residents are 65 or over, below 76% 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
■ Croix 39.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of one-person households than 76% of compared French towns: 42%
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 2.1 people. The wider picture: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Locally, 22% of households are couples with children. Single-parent households are more common here than in 67% of compared French towns.
In Croix, 9.6% of homes stand empty, more than in 77% 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
In the typical compared French town, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM); in Croix, 17%. Of all households, 13% moved in during the last two years and 14% have stayed three decades or more. Few places have so few second homes: 1.4% here, fewer than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. The wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
A median standard of living of €25,770 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 €25,770 a year: lower than in 52% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 17.8%.
In Croix, 25% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 83% 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
In Croix, 8.5% of households are headed by a manual worker, beside 14% in the typical compared French town. For households headed by a retired person, the comparison 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).
Croix: 9.1% of residents are immigrants, above 66% 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.
6.5% of residents are foreign nationals (typical compared French town: 4.3%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Croix, 31% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 84% 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
With married residents at 38%, Croix is behind just over four fifths of compared French towns on that count. Across the comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
In Croix, 47% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 90% 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
Nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, against 16% in Croix. By way of comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
15th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 19,970 to 21,134
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Carrières-sous-Poissy (32.6), the youngest, and Concarneau (53.9), the oldest.
A younger town than 4 of the 6 around it: Croix
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croix | 39.1 | 18% | 1.4% | 9.1% |
| Wasquehal 20,726 · 1 mi | 40.2 | 20% | 0.7% | 7.5% |
| Roubaix 98,286 · 1.4 mi | 32 | 12% | 0.7% | 22% |
| Mouvaux 13,369 · 1.9 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 1.6% | 5.2% |
| Hem 18,582 · 1.9 mi | 41 | 19% | 0.3% | 8.4% |
| Lys-lez-Lannoy 14,050 · 2.6 mi | 38.7 | 17% | 0.7% | 7.8% |
| Marcq-en-Barœul 40,184 · 2.9 mi | 41.4 | 20% | 1.3% | 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 Croix
What is the population of Croix?
20,566 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (20,664).
How old are Croix’s residents?
The median age is 39.1, younger than 84% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Croix?
160, with occasional dwellings: 1.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Croix?
INSEE counts 1,880 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.1% of residents, and 1,340 foreign nationals (6.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Croix?
€25,770 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 17.8% 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.