Photo: Floflo62 · CC BY-SA 4.0Above 88% of compared French towns: 21% of households are headed by a manual worker
In Estaires, 14% of homes are flats, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. 29% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 81% of compared French towns. This Nord town counted 6,525 residents and 2,730 households at the 2023 Census. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 19% here.
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 growing town: +10% since 2012, faster than 69% 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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Nord town ±0%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought +7%; 2017 to 2023, +2%.
Younger than 67% of compared French towns: half of Estaires is under 41.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Estaires 41.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Little separates the share of residents aged 15 to 24 here, 11%, from the figure 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%.
In Estaires, 30% of households are couples with children, more than in 78% 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
Households here average 2.4 people each. To put it in context, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Little separates the share of single-parent households here, 10%, from the figure in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of second homes than 91% of compared French towns: 0.7%
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
Just over one in ten households arrived within the last two years, while 22% have stayed 30 years or more. Estaires has more households in social housing than just over three fifths of compared French towns, at 15%. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%. Empty homes are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 5.8%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €24,530 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.
Half of Estaires’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,530 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 66% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 13.0% of residents.
In Estaires, 6.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 75% 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
Households headed by a retired person: 30%, below 62% of compared French towns. The share of households headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 1.5% in Estaires, less than in 96% 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.
The figure for foreign nationals is 1% in Estaires and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% 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.
Estaires ranks above 73% of compared French towns on married residents: 46%
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 single residents at 23%, Estaires is behind 69% of compared French towns on that count. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 27% in Estaires, more than in 83% 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
The share of graduates of higher education trails four fifths of compared French towns: 22%. Set beside that, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
13th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 6,479 to 6,571
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villers-Saint-Paul is the youngest (36.9); Gueugnon the oldest (58).
Median age: 4 of the 6 towns around Estaires are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estaires | 41.8 | 19% | 0.7% | 1.5% |
| La Gorgue 5,616 · 0.8 mi | 42.4 | 19% | 0.3% | 1.5% |
| Lestrem 5,009 · 2.8 mi | 41.2 | 19% | 0.9% | 1.4% |
| Sailly-sur-la-Lys 3,981 · 3 mi | 45.9 | 24% | 0.4% | 2.1% |
| Laventie 5,044 · 3.1 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 0.5% | 1.6% |
| Merville 9,808 · 3.6 mi | 39 | 18% | 1.2% | 1.8% |
| Steenwerck 3,450 · 4 mi | 44.6 | 21% | 0.5% | 1.4% |
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 Estaires
What is the population of Estaires?
6,525 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% more than in 2012 (5,935).
How old are Estaires’ residents?
The median age is 41.8, younger than 67% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Estaires?
19, with occasional dwellings: 0.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Estaires?
INSEE counts 100 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.5% of residents, and 66 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Estaires?
€24,530 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 13.0% 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 9, 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.