Photo: Velvet · CC BY-SA 4.0Above 87% of compared French towns: 33% of households are couples with children
18% of households are headed by a manager or professional; in the typical compared French town the figure is 9.4%. There were 7,200 households in Hem at the 2023 Census, home to 18,582 residents. Locally, 0.3% of homes are second homes. The median age here is 41, lower than in 73% 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 Hem
Social housing
29% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 11% rent privately and 59% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of +1% since 2012 leaves Hem behind 65% 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%.
19% of residents are 65 or over, below 69% 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
■ Hem 41. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 12%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
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%.
Hem: 14% of households are single parents, above 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
There are 2.5 people in the average household. Fewer one-person households than in 87% of compared French towns: 28%. Single-parent households: 10% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A higher share of households in social housing than 91% of compared French towns, at 29%
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
Where 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, Hem has 18%. Across Hem, 4.1% of homes stand empty. 15% of households have no car, a higher share than in 68% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €25,750 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €25,750 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 52% of compared French towns. Some 18.0% of residents fall below the poverty line.
30% of households are headed by a retired person, below 63% 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
About one in eight: that is how common households headed by a manual worker are in Hem (13%). Households headed by a retired person make up 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
8.4% of residents are immigrants, more than in 63% 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.
Foreign nationals make up 5.8%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up 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.
A larger share of single residents than 68% of compared French towns: 28%
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
The census found that 43% of residents 15 and over are married in Hem. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Above 76% of compared French towns: 25% of adults out of school have no qualification
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 30% in the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education in Hem comes in at 37%. In the typical compared French town, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification.
The 21st oldest of 41 French towns of 17,854 to 19,292 people
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 Moissy-Cramayel (33.2), the oldest Sanary-sur-Mer (59.7).
A younger town than 2 of the 6 around it: Hem
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 Hem
What is the population of Hem?
18,582 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% more than in 2012 (18,374).
How old are Hem’s residents?
The median age is 41, younger than 73% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Hem?
26, with occasional dwellings: 0.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Hem?
INSEE counts 1,560 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.4% of residents, and 1,070 foreign nationals (5.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Hem?
€25,750 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% 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 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.