0.4% of households rent social housing (HLM), fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
Here 29% of households are one person living alone, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 35%. In 2023, the Census found 540 residents in Oxelaëre, living in 230 households. Put another way, about one in 33: 3% of households have no car. With a median age of 40.6, Oxelaëre is younger than just over three quarters 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 Oxelaëre
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 6.7% single parents with children; 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 60% of compared French towns: Oxelaëre changed by +2% since 2012
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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, ±0% in Nord.
18% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 76% 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
■ Oxelaëre 40.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 11%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Oxelaëre: 34% of households are couples with children, above 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
A household here holds 2.3 people on average. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 92% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, a quarter of households are couples with children.
Flats make up 25% in Oxelaëre, less than in 59% 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
In the typical compared French town, 2.1% of homes are second homes; in Oxelaëre, 3.5%. 14% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 9.6% moved in within the last two years.
Median standard of living: €25,020 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 residents live in households above €25,020 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 60% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker: 25%, a higher share than 95% 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
Just over one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%). On the census count, a third of households are headed by a retired person. As a yardstick, 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).
Oxelaëre sits below 91% of compared French towns for immigrants (2.1%)
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.
Foreign nationals make up 0.9%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
21% of residents 15 and over are single, below 88% 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
Against a figure of 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Oxelaëre comes in at 45%. The wider picture: 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
19% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 53% 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
About one in three: that is how common graduates of higher education are in Oxelaëre (30%).
Ranked by age, 4th youngest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Every neighbor is older than Oxelaëre
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxelaëre | 40.6 | 18% | 3.5% | 2.1% |
| Steenvoorde 4,332 · 5.1 mi | 45.3 | 25% | 1.5% | 2.1% |
| Hazebrouck 21,912 · 5.2 mi | 43.3 | 23% | 1% | 3.1% |
| Wormhout 5,584 · 6.5 mi | 45.4 | 25% | 1.1% | 1.2% |
| Morbecque 2,573 · 7.3 mi | 44.5 | 22% | 1.4% | 1.2% |
| Arques 9,431 · 8.3 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 1% | 2.8% |
| Vieux-Berquin 2,628 · 9.5 mi | 42.2 | 19% | 0.8% | 1.1% |
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 Oxelaëre
What is the population of Oxelaëre?
540 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (528).
How old are Oxelaëre’s residents?
The median age is 40.6, younger than 76% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Oxelaëre?
9, with occasional dwellings: 3.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Oxelaëre?
INSEE counts 11 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.1% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Oxelaëre?
€25,020 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.