Photo: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.025% of households rent social housing (HLM), more than in 87% of compared French towns
The figure for households headed by a retired person is 29% in Orchies and 32% in the typical compared French town. The 2023 Census counted 8,396 residents in 3,950 households. The share of households without a car stands at 16%. Few places have so few second homes: 0.5% here, fewer than in 95% 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.
Orchies changed by +2% from 2012 to 2023, behind 60% 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
In two steps, +8% to 2017 and −5% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% in Nord.
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 75% of compared French towns: 18%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Orchies 41.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Orchies’s residents are under 41.6, younger than in just over two thirds of compared French towns. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 13%.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Orchies sits above 68% of compared French towns for one-person households (40%)
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
A household here holds 2.1 people on average. Nearly a quarter of households are couples with children, fewer than in 62% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households: 11%, above 70% of compared French towns.
A higher share of flats than 57% of compared French towns, at 34%
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
Without a car: one household in six, against 11% in the median compared French town. The usual figure: 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 15% moved in during the last two years and 18% have stayed three decades or more.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €24,880 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.
Living standards centre on €24,880 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 62% of compared French towns. 14.0% of the population lives below the poverty line.
A larger share of households headed by a manual worker than 66% of compared French towns: 17%
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 the typical compared French town, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional; in Orchies, 12%. 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).
Fewer immigrants than 88% of compared French towns: 2.4%
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.
1.4% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 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.
Orchies ranks below 85% of compared French towns on married residents: 37%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%; Orchies has 27%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
A higher share of adults with no qualification than 70% of compared French towns, at 23%
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
Across Orchies, 29% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. Measured more widely, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
12th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 8,268 to 8,519
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Groslay (37.9), the oldest Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie (63.7).
Of the 6 towns nearest Orchies, 4 are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchies | 41.6 | 18% | 0.5% | 2.4% |
| Beuvry-la-Forêt 2,861 · 1.9 mi | 44.1 | 21% | 0.5% | 2.4% |
| Nomain 2,651 · 2 mi | 43.1 | 20% | 0.6% | 3.1% |
| Landas 2,518 · 2.1 mi | 43.4 | 20% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| Coutiches 3,436 · 2.7 mi | 40 | 16% | 0.6% | 2.4% |
| Genech 2,803 · 4.1 mi | 39.9 | 16% | 1.1% | 3.3% |
| Flines-lez-Raches 5,745 · 4.3 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 0.8% | 1.9% |
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 Orchies
What is the population of Orchies?
8,396 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (8,196).
How old are Orchies’ residents?
The median age is 41.6, younger than 68% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Orchies?
22, with occasional dwellings: 0.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Orchies?
INSEE counts 200 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.4% of residents, and 110 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Orchies?
€24,880 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 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.