A higher share of couples with children than 99% of compared French towns, at 40%
Households in social housing: 2.7%, below 95% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 288 people lived in Hestrud, in 120 households. Here, 5.1% of homes are flats. The town has fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 97% of compared French towns, at 3.1%.
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 Hestrud
Immigrants
INSEE counts 100 immigrants in Hestrud (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 34% of residents, against 4.1% for the median compared commune in Nord. 32% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
A town of families
40% of households are couples with children and 7.3% single parents with children; 15% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Hestrud changed by −4% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 85% 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 median Nord town changed ±0% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −2% and the next six −2%.
Older than 56% of compared French towns: half of Hestrud is over 44.9
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Hestrud 44.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in Hestrud. On residents aged 65 and over, Hestrud sits higher than 57% of compared French towns: 23%.
Women and men · all residents
45% women, 55% men
About 81 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Hestrud sits below 87% of compared French towns for single-parent households (7.3%)
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
By its share of one-person households (31%), Hestrud is below 71% of compared French towns. Average household size: 2.3 people. Single-parent households: 10% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
5.3% of homes in Hestrud are second homes
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
Turnover: 3.7% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 28% have lived in their home 30 years or more. Lower than in 77% of compared French towns: 6.5% of households have no car. On average, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Set against 6.7% in the typical compared French town, 4.3% of homes stand empty in Hestrud.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €24,760 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.
Living standards centre on €24,760 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 63% of compared French towns.
Hestrud sits below 81% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (26%)
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
18% of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. The comparison figure for households headed by a retired person is 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A larger share of immigrants than 99% of compared French towns: 34%
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: 32%, above 99% of compared French towns. 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.
A smaller share of married residents than 63% of compared French towns: 41%
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
About one in four: that is how common single residents are in Hestrud (26%). The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
15% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 73% 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
Just over a quarter of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
19th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 288 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as old as Hestrud
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hestrud | 44.9 | 23% | 5.3% | 34% |
| Jeumont 10,160 · 7 mi | 38.8 | 19% | 0.7% | 14% |
| Marpent 2,653 · 7.2 mi | 42.1 | 22% | 0.6% | 8% |
| Ferrière-la-Grande 5,131 · 7.8 mi | 39.8 | 20% | 0.5% | 5% |
| Boussois 3,123 · 7.9 mi | 41.3 | 19% | 0.1% | 6.6% |
| Rousies 3,980 · 8.3 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 0.7% | 4.7% |
| Sains-du-Nord 2,755 · 9.5 mi | 43.3 | 24% | 2.3% | 2.3% |
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 Hestrud
What is the population of Hestrud?
288 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (300).
How old are Hestrud’s residents?
The median age is 44.9, older than 56% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Hestrud?
7, with occasional dwellings: 5.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Hestrud?
INSEE counts 96 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 34% of residents, and 91 foreign nationals (32%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Hestrud?
€24,760 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 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.