Guesnain ranks above 99% of compared French towns on households in social housing: 42%
Households headed by a manager or professional: 2.8%, below 98% of compared French towns. The share of second homes stands at 0.1%. On households without a car, Guesnain sits higher than 83% of compared French towns: 20%. The 2023 Census counted 4,635 residents in 1,970 households.
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 Guesnain
Social housing
42% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 10% rent privately and 45% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 75% of compared French towns: Guesnain changed by −1% since 2012
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 median Nord town changed ±0% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought ±0% and the next six −1%.
Guesnain is younger than 58% of compared French towns: a median age of 42.9
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Guesnain 42.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 22% in the typical compared French town, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over here.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Above 73% of compared French towns: 30% of households are couples with children
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 average household has 2.4 people. On one-person households, Guesnain sits lower than 76% of compared French towns: 30%. In the typical compared French town, couples with children come to 25%. At 10%, single-parent households sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Guesnain ranks below 90% of compared French towns on flats: 8.1%
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
Without a car: one household in five, against 11% in the median compared French town. Flats make up 30% in the typical compared French town. Locally, 6.6% of homes stand empty.
Standard of living at the median: €20,990 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 €20,990 a year: lower than in 93% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 25.0% of the population.
In Guesnain, 24% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 94% 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 Guesnain, 37% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Guesnain, 4.4% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 70% 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 median compared commune in Nord has 4.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 70% of compared French towns. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%. In Guesnain, 2.6% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 70% of compared French towns: 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
On the census count, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. In the median compared French town 43% are married and 6.1% in a PACS; here it is 46% and 4.2%, and 8.8% are widowed.
Only 16% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Guesnain
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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Guesnain comes in at 29%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 4,605 to 4,669 people: this is the 18th 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.
Auzeville-Tolosane is the youngest (30.5); La Tremblade the oldest (62.9).
Of the 6 towns nearest Guesnain, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guesnain | 42.9 | 24% | 0.1% | 4.4% |
| Dechy 5,338 · 0.9 mi | 40 | 21% | 0.3% | 5.4% |
| Sin-le-Noble 16,076 · 1.9 mi | 39.7 | 18% | 0.7% | 6% |
| Masny 3,999 · 2.1 mi | 41.7 | 20% | 0.3% | 4.7% |
| Montigny-en-Ostrevent 4,495 · 2.1 mi | 45.9 | 26% | 0.2% | 4.3% |
| Lallaing 6,287 · 2.7 mi | 42.8 | 23% | 0.2% | 3.5% |
| Waziers 7,266 · 3 mi | 37.6 | 17% | 0.4% | 9.4% |
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 Guesnain
What is the population of Guesnain?
4,635 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% fewer than in 2012 (4,692).
How old are Guesnain’s residents?
The median age is 42.9, younger than 58% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Guesnain?
2, with occasional dwellings: 0.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Guesnain?
INSEE counts 200 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.4% of residents, and 120 foreign nationals (2.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Guesnain?
€20,990 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 25.0% 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.