Photo: Velvet · CC BY-SA 4.0A median age of 38.6: Houplines is younger than 86% of compared French towns
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children in Houplines comes in at 32%. The town’s 3,280 households held 7,921 residents at the 2023 Census. Locally, 0.5% of homes are second homes. Compared with other places, households headed by a retired person are scarce here: 29%, fewer than in 69% 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 Houplines
A young town
Half of Houplines’ residents are under 38.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 19% are under 15 and 17% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: +2% since 2012, behind 63% 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 same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Nord town ±0%.
17% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 83% 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
■ Houplines 38.6. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%; Houplines has 13%. Typically, 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%.
Below 75% of compared French towns: 30% of households are one person living alone
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
Where 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Houplines has 12%. On average, 2.4 people share a household. Measured more widely, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
15% of homes are flats, fewer than in 78% of compared French towns
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
Compared with 12% in the typical compared French town, 15% of households rent social housing (HLM) here. Empty homes make up about one in 19 here (5.4%). Higher than in 53% of compared French towns: 11% of households have no car. Flats make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
Median living standard: €24,980 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.
Half of Houplines’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,980 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 60% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 14.0% of residents.
18% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 76% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Where nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, Houplines has 7.3%. To put it in context, 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).
Immigrants: 4.8%, a lower share than 65% 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 figure for foreign nationals is 3% in Houplines and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents make up 28% in Houplines, more than in 70% 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
The share of married residents trails 65% of compared French towns: 41%. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 21% in Houplines, more than in 61% 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
Houplines has fewer graduates of higher education than 53% of compared French towns, at 29%. Against that, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (7,812 to 8,035 people), the 9th 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.
Ages run from 28.3 in Corte to 57.7 in Lège-Cap-Ferret.
Around Houplines, 5 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houplines | 38.6 | 17% | 0.5% | 4.8% |
| Armentières 26,998 · 1.4 mi | 36.1 | 16% | 0.9% | 8.5% |
| La Chapelle-d'Armentières 8,754 · 1.6 mi | 41 | 19% | 0.6% | 4.4% |
| Frelinghien 2,609 · 1.8 mi | 43.1 | 20% | 0.6% | 2.9% |
| Erquinghem-Lys 5,341 · 2.9 mi | 39.8 | 18% | 0.7% | 2.5% |
| Pérenchies 8,455 · 2.9 mi | 40.5 | 19% | 0.6% | 4.1% |
| Nieppe 7,764 · 3 mi | 42.4 | 20% | 0.7% | 3.8% |
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 Houplines
What is the population of Houplines?
7,921 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (7,791).
How old are Houplines’ residents?
The median age is 38.6, younger than 86% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Houplines?
18, with occasional dwellings: 0.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Houplines?
INSEE counts 380 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.8% of residents, and 240 foreign nationals (3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Houplines?
€24,980 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 14.0% 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 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.