Photo: Jérémy Jännick · Public domainOnly 2.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional in La Sentinelle
Households without a car: 26%, above 92% of compared French towns. Half of La Sentinelle’s residents are under 42.1, younger than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 3,103 people lived in the town, in 1,390 households. The census found that 8.3% of homes stand empty in the town.
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 La Sentinelle
Fewer residents than in 2012
La Sentinelle had 3,299 residents at the 2012 census and 3,103 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 91% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Social housing
30% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 18% rent privately and 51% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A −6% change since 2012: slower than 91% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −5%, then −1% to 2023.
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 66% of compared French towns: 20%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ La Sentinelle 42.1. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%; La Sentinelle has 12%. Elsewhere, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of single-parent households than 72% of compared French towns: 12%
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
Average household size: 2.2 people. Single-parent households: 10% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. 36% of households are one person living alone (typical compared French town: 35%).
A higher share of households in social housing than 92% of compared French towns, at 30%
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
Flats: 18%, below 72% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. 11% of households arrived within the last two years, while 24% have stayed 30 years or more.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €20,760 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.
Half of La Sentinelle’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €20,760 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 94% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 27.0% of residents.
A larger share of households headed by a manual worker than 77% of compared French towns: 18%
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
Put another way, about one in three: 33% of households are headed by a retired person. By way of comparison, 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).
La Sentinelle: 5.6% of residents are immigrants
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 58% of compared French towns. About one in 20: that is how common foreign nationals are in La Sentinelle (5.1%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In La Sentinelle, 32% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 86% 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 is 37%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
La Sentinelle ranks below 78% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 22%
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
Set against 19% in the typical compared French town, a quarter of adults out of school have no qualification in La Sentinelle. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
The 12th youngest of 41 French towns of 3,080 to 3,126 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.
Ages run from 35.8 in Vémars to 63.7 in Soulac-sur-Mer.
Every neighbor is younger than La Sentinelle
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Sentinelle | 42.1 | 20% | 1.9% | 5.6% |
| Hérin 4,169 · 1.3 mi | 38.7 | 16% | 0.2% | 2.8% |
| Trith-Saint-Léger 6,019 · 1.4 mi | 40.6 | 20% | 1.2% | 4.5% |
| Petite-Forêt 5,054 · 1.5 mi | 41.3 | 20% | 0.7% | 4.5% |
| Valenciennes 43,468 · 1.5 mi | 36.4 | 17% | 3% | 11% |
| Anzin 13,183 · 1.9 mi | 37.2 | 15% | 1.3% | 8.8% |
| Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes 7,080 · 2.3 mi | 35.9 | 19% | 0.8% | 7.9% |
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 La Sentinelle
What is the population of La Sentinelle?
3,103 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (3,299).
How old are La Sentinelle’s residents?
The median age is 42.1, younger than 65% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Sentinelle?
29, with occasional dwellings: 1.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Sentinelle?
INSEE counts 170 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.6% of residents, and 160 foreign nationals (5.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Sentinelle?
€20,760 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 27.0% 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.