Only 2.6% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Oost-Cappel
With a median age of 39.6, Oost-Cappel is younger than just over four fifths of compared French towns. The census found that 4.8% of homes are flats locally. 463 residents in 200 households: that is Oost-Cappel at the 2023 Census. Against a figure of 35% in the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households in Oost-Cappel comes in at 31%.
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 Oost-Cappel
Fewer residents than in 2012
Oost-Cappel had 521 residents at the 2012 census and 463 in 2023, down 11%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Oost-Cappel changed by −11% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 98% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% for the median Nord town, the change came in two steps: −11% from 2012 to 2017, then ±0% to 2023.
Oost-Cappel ranks below 87% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 8.6%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Oost-Cappel 39.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 21%, against 22% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 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%.
Above 65% of compared French towns: 28% of households are couples with children
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
Households here average 2.3 people each. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%. At 9.9%, the share of single-parent households is in line with the figure in the typical compared French town.
In Oost-Cappel, 0.9% of homes are second homes, fewer than in 83% 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
5.5% of households arrived within the last two years, while 23% have stayed 30 years or more. As a reference point, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. The share of households in social housing is 15%, against 12% in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €24,750 a year in 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 median standard of living in Oost-Cappel is €24,750 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 63% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a manual worker than 99% of compared French towns, at 28%
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
In Oost-Cappel, 32% of households are headed by a retired person. Elsewhere, 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).
Oost-Cappel ranks below 94% of compared French towns on immigrants: 1.7%
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.
Where 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Oost-Cappel has 1.5%. By way of comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Oost-Cappel ranks below 97% of compared French towns on single residents: 18%
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
Against a figure of 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Oost-Cappel comes in at 45%. In the typical compared French town, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single.
Graduates of higher education make up 17% in Oost-Cappel, less than in 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
Compared with 19% in the typical compared French town, 27% of adults out of school have no qualification here. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 2nd youngest of 41 French towns of 463 to 2,582 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 Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Oost-Cappel 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oost-Cappel | 39.6 | 21% | 0.9% | 1.7% |
| Hondschoote 3,957 · 3.6 mi | 43 | 22% | 1.7% | 2.9% |
| Wormhout 5,584 · 6.3 mi | 45.4 | 25% | 1.1% | 1.2% |
| Hoymille 3,259 · 7.1 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 1.8% | 1.1% |
| Bergues 3,525 · 7.5 mi | 49.6 | 30% | 1.9% | 1.4% |
| Steenvoorde 4,332 · 7.9 mi | 45.3 | 25% | 1.5% | 2.1% |
| Ghyvelde 4,133 · 8.8 mi | 45.3 | 21% | 15% | 3.6% |
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 Oost-Cappel
What is the population of Oost-Cappel?
463 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% fewer than in 2012 (521).
How old are Oost-Cappel’s residents?
The median age is 39.6, younger than 81% of compared French towns. 26% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Oost-Cappel?
2, with occasional dwellings: 0.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Oost-Cappel?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.7% of residents, and 7 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Oost-Cappel?
€24,750 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 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.