Younger than 99% of compared French towns: half of Lille is under 29.4
In Lille, 45% of households have no car, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. There were 129,360 households here at the 2023 Census, home to 238,246 residents. 13% of households are couples with children. At 23%, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is higher than in 93% 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 Lille
A young town
Half of Lille’s residents are under 29.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 14% are under 15 and 11% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
58% of Lille’s households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Many graduates
52% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 29% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Lille has changed by +4%, slower than 53% 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 first five years brought +2%; the six to 2023, +2%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Nord town ±0%.
11% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 99% 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
■ Lille 29.4. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 26%, against 11% 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
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Lille ranks above 99% of compared French towns on one-person households: 58%
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
Each household has 1.8 people on average. Measured more widely, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, single-parent households are scarce here: 7.5%, fewer than in 85% of compared French towns.
79% of homes are flats, more than in 94% 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
2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town, against 3.4% in Lille. Across Lille, 20% of households rent social housing (HLM). On empty homes, Lille sits higher than 64% of compared French towns: 8%. Flats make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
At the median, €22,470 a year to live on
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 €22,470 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 86% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 28.6% of the population.
A lower share of households headed by a retired person than 99% of compared French towns, at 14%
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
8% of households are headed by a manual worker, against 14% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, nearly a third 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).
Immigrants make up 15% in Lille, more than in 85% 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 median compared commune in Nord has 4.1%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 85% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Foreign nationals: 13% of the total.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents: 49%, a higher share than 99% 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
Married residents make up 24%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 52%, a higher share than 94% 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
17% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 117,662 to 357,737 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.
Lille is the youngest (29.4); Paris 16e the oldest (43.7).
Lille is younger than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lille | 29.4 | 11% | 3.4% | 15% |
| La Madeleine 21,790 · 1.7 mi | 36.5 | 16% | 3.9% | 9.3% |
| Lambersart 27,090 · 1.9 mi | 40.1 | 19% | 1.4% | 6.5% |
| Saint-André-lez-Lille 13,233 · 2.1 mi | 37.8 | 16% | 1.1% | 6.5% |
| Loos 22,567 · 2.2 mi | 33 | 13% | 1.8% | 11% |
| Faches-Thumesnil 18,619 · 2.3 mi | 37.8 | 18% | 0.7% | 11% |
| Ronchin 19,787 · 2.3 mi | 37.3 | 17% | 0.9% | 12% |
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 Lille
What is the population of Lille?
238,246 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (228,652).
How old are Lille’s residents?
The median age is 29.4, younger than 99% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 11% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lille?
4,950, with occasional dwellings: 3.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lille?
INSEE counts 35,330 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 15% of residents, and 30,030 foreign nationals (13%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lille?
€22,470 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 28.6% 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.