41% of households are couples with children, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
Households headed by a manager or professional: 28% here and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census, 505 people lived in Ghissignies, in 200 households. Flats: 1.4% of the total. 4.9% of households have no car, a lower share than in 89% 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 Ghissignies
A town of families
41% of households are couples with children and 5% single parents with children; 19% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Many graduates
48% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 16% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Ghissignies changed by ±0% from 2012 to 2023, behind 71% 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%. The first five years brought +3%; the six to 2023, −3%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 18%, a lower share than 74% 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
■ Ghissignies 43.3. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (12%), Ghissignies is above 67% of compared French towns. Meanwhile, half of the town’s residents are under 43.3, younger than in 56% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
20% of households are one person living alone, below 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
Households here average 2.5 people each. The wider picture: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. At 5%, the share of single-parent households is lower than in 99% of compared French towns.
Ghissignies ranks below 84% of compared French towns on empty homes: 4.3%
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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. 6.4% of households arrived within the last two years, while 24% have stayed 30 years or more. At 1.9%, second homes sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
€30,310 a year: the median standard of living
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 Ghissignies’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €30,310 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 86% of compared French towns.
Ghissignies ranks above 62% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 35%
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
On the census count, 15% of households are headed by a manual worker. 28% of Ghissignies’ households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 35% by a retired person (32%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of immigrants than 97% of compared French towns, at 1.4%
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.
Here 1.2% of residents are foreign nationals, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. The median compared commune in Nord has 4.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 97% of compared French towns. By way of 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.
Married residents: 54%, a higher share than 98% 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
In the typical compared French town, 25% of residents 15 and over are single; in Ghissignies, 21%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Adults with no qualification make up 9.5% in Ghissignies, less than in 96% 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
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 48% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification here. In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
Among 41 French towns of 505 to 2,582 people, the 12th youngest
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 Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Median age: 4 of the 6 towns around Ghissignies 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghissignies | 43.3 | 18% | 1.9% | 1.4% |
| Le Quesnoy 4,878 · 1.8 mi | 46.3 | 27% | 1.6% | 3% |
| Solesmes 4,142 · 6.1 mi | 44.9 | 23% | 2.1% | 1.2% |
| Landrecies 3,407 · 7.7 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Maing 3,954 · 8.2 mi | 43.8 | 23% | 0.8% | 2.7% |
| Berlaimont 3,159 · 8.4 mi | 42.9 | 25% | 1.3% | 3.1% |
| Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes 7,080 · 8.4 mi | 35.9 | 19% | 0.8% | 7.9% |
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 Ghissignies
What is the population of Ghissignies?
505 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (506).
How old are Ghissignies’ residents?
The median age is 43.3, younger than 56% of compared French towns. 26% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ghissignies?
4, with occasional dwellings: 1.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ghissignies?
INSEE counts 7 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.4% of residents, and 6 foreign nationals (1.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ghissignies?
€30,310 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 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.