Photo: Unknown author Unknown author or not provided · Public domainHalf of Lourches is under 35.1, younger than 96% of compared French towns
Households without a car make up 28%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Census day 2023: 3,734 residents and 1,400 households in Lourches. About one in 26: that is how common households headed by a manager or professional are in Lourches (3.9%). Lower than in 86% of compared French towns: 10% of homes are flats.
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 Lourches
A young town
Half of Lourches’ residents are under 35.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 23% are under 15 and 15% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 12% single parents with children; 23% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Social housing
29% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 26% rent privately and 43% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 230 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A −4% change since 2012: slower than 84% 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 +2%, then −5% to 2023.
15% of residents are 15 to 24, a share 96% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lourches 35.1. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over; in Lourches, 15%.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Couples with children make up 34% in Lourches, more than in 89% 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 2.6 people in the average household. On average, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Few places have as many single-parent households: 12% here, more than in 75% of compared French towns. Where 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town, Lourches has 34%.
More empty homes than 93% of compared French towns: 14%
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
Car-free households: one in four, where the median compared French town has 11%. Measured more widely, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Here, 29% of households rent social housing (HLM). Few places have so few second homes: 0.5% here, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns.
€17,280 a year: the median standard of living
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 €17,280 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 99% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 39.0% of residents.
Households headed by a manual worker: 28%, a higher share than 99% 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
Households headed by a retired person make up 25%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. On average, 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).
Lourches sits above 70% of compared French towns for foreign nationals (7.1%)
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.
Immigrants: 8.2%, above 62% of compared French towns. For foreign nationals, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 34% in Lourches, less than in 91% 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
32% of residents 15 and over are single, against 25% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 12%, a lower share than 99% 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
Where 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Lourches has 31%. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 3,706 to 3,765 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.
At the ends of the range sit Lourches (35.1), the youngest, and Cabourg (63.9), the oldest.
Lourches is younger than 5 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lourches | 35.1 | 15% | 0.5% | 8.2% |
| Rœulx 3,743 · 1 mi | 40.2 | 19% | 0.3% | 2.2% |
| Neuville-sur-Escaut 2,901 · 1.1 mi | 38.3 | 18% | 0.4% | 2.1% |
| Escaudain 9,039 · 1.5 mi | 36.5 | 17% | 0.5% | 5.3% |
| Denain 20,665 · 1.8 mi | 34 | 14% | 0.4% | 11% |
| Douchy-les-Mines 10,109 · 1.8 mi | 38.6 | 18% | 0.4% | 5.3% |
| Bouchain 4,113 · 2.8 mi | 46 | 26% | 1% | 2.2% |
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 Lourches
What is the population of Lourches?
3,734 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (3,881).
How old are Lourches’ residents?
The median age is 35.1, younger than 96% of compared French towns. 28% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lourches?
8, with occasional dwellings: 0.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lourches?
INSEE counts 310 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.2% of residents, and 270 foreign nationals (7.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lourches?
€17,280 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 39.0% 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.