Photo: Ottaviani Serge · CC BY-SA 4.0In Rœulx, 4.9% of homes are flats, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns
Here nearly a quarter of households are headed by a manual worker, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 14%. At 15%, the share of single-parent households is higher than in 95% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 3,743 residents in Rœulx, living in 1,470 households. On the census count, 0.3% of homes are second homes.
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.
Slower growth than 73% of compared French towns: Rœulx changed by −1% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Nord town ±0%.
Younger than 78% of compared French towns: half of Rœulx is under 40.2
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Rœulx 40.2. The median compared French town: 44.
13% of residents are 15 to 24; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. Residents aged 65 and over make up about one in five here (19%).
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
A smaller share of one-person households than 93% of compared French towns: 26%
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 average 2.5 people. A third of households are couples with children, more than in 87% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
More households without a car than 72% of compared French towns: 16%
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
One household in six has no car (median compared French town: 11%). Few places have so few empty homes: 5.2% here, fewer than in 72% of compared French towns. Of all households, 9.4% moved in during the last two years and 26% have stayed three decades or more.
Median standard of living: €21,690 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.
At €21,690 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 90% of compared French towns. Some 22.0% of residents fall below the poverty line.
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 4.4% in Rœulx, less than in 90% 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: 35%, above 64% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional 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 89% of compared French towns: 2.2%
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.
In Rœulx, 1.4% of residents are foreign nationals, beside 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Nord has 4.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 89% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 62% of compared French towns: 45%
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
The share of single residents stands at 26%. By way of comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 95% of compared French towns: 16%
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
Adults with no qualification make up 27%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 5th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Lourches (35.1), the youngest, and Cabourg (63.9), the oldest.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 2 are older than Rœulx
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rœulx | 40.2 | 19% | 0.3% | 2.2% |
| Lourches 3,734 · 1 mi | 35.1 | 15% | 0.5% | 8.2% |
| Neuville-sur-Escaut 2,901 · 1.1 mi | 38.3 | 18% | 0.4% | 2.1% |
| Escaudain 9,039 · 1.7 mi | 36.5 | 17% | 0.5% | 5.3% |
| Bouchain 4,113 · 2 mi | 46 | 26% | 1% | 2.2% |
| Abscon 4,108 · 2.3 mi | 42.4 | 21% | 0.2% | 1.8% |
| Douchy-les-Mines 10,109 · 2.6 mi | 38.6 | 18% | 0.4% | 5.3% |
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 Rœulx
What is the population of Rœulx?
3,743 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (3,775).
How old are Rœulx’s residents?
The median age is 40.2, younger than 78% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Rœulx?
5, with occasional dwellings: 0.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Rœulx?
INSEE counts 84 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.2% of residents, and 52 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Rœulx?
€21,690 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 22.0% 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 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.