A lower share of flats than 99% of compared French towns, at 0.5%
Here nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 35%. 0.3% of households rent social housing (HLM). With a median age of 39.9, Hélesmes is younger than 79% of compared French towns. The town’s 760 households held 1,907 residents at the 2023 Census.
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 Hélesmes
A town of families
35% of households are couples with children and 7.3% single parents with children; 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−2% since 2012, a pace below 79% 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 change was +1% from 2012 to 2017 and −3% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Nord town ±0%.
Below 84% of compared French towns: 17% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Hélesmes 39.9. The median compared French town: 44.
On residents aged 15 to 24, 11% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Couples with children make up 35% in Hélesmes, more than in 92% 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
On average, 2.5 people share a household. For comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Fewer single-parent households than in 87% of compared French towns: 7.3%.
Only 0.4% of homes are second homes in Hélesmes
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
With households without a car at 9.1%, Hélesmes is behind nearly three fifths of compared French towns on that count. Second homes: 2.1% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Of all households, 9.6% moved in during the last two years and 27% have stayed three decades or more. Empty homes are rarer here than in 52% of compared French towns.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €25,510 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.
At €25,510 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 54% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person: 25%, a lower share than 82% 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
Set against 14% in the typical compared French town, 17% of households are headed by a manual worker in Hélesmes. Compared with other places, households headed by a manager or professional are common here: 9.8%, more than in 53% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Hélesmes ranks below 91% of compared French towns on immigrants: 2.1%
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 1.1% of residents are foreign nationals, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Hélesmes, 49% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 89% 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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Hélesmes comes in at 22%. Elsewhere, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 55% of compared French towns: 28%
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
In Hélesmes, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. On average, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 1,907 to 2,582 people, the 2nd 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).
Of the 6 towns nearest Hélesmes, 2 are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Hélesmes
What is the population of Hélesmes?
1,907 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (1,954).
How old are Hélesmes’ residents?
The median age is 39.9, younger than 79% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Hélesmes?
3, with occasional dwellings: 0.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Hélesmes?
INSEE counts 39 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.1% of residents, and 20 foreign nationals (1.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Hélesmes?
€25,510 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 8, 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.