36% of households are couples with children, a share 94% of compared French towns don’t reach
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 3.6% of homes are flats in Wambaix. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 381, in 150 households. Locally, 0.7% of households rent social housing (HLM). This Nord town has fewer residents aged 65 and over than nearly three quarters of compared French towns, at 19%.
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 Wambaix
A town of families
36% of households are couples with children and 6.2% single parents with children; 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Faster growth than 82% of compared French towns: Wambaix changed by +15% 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 those years, the median Nord town changed ±0% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +13%, then +2% to 2023.
9.1% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 80% 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
■ Wambaix 42.5. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 42.5, Wambaix is younger than 62% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 23%, a lower share than 97% 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
Compared with 10% in the typical compared French town, 6.2% of households are single parents here. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town. Households average 2.5 people.
A smaller share of households without a car than 81% of compared French towns: 5.9%
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 17, against 11% in the median compared French town. Here, 0.6% of homes are second homes. Wambaix has more empty homes than 68% of compared French towns, at 8.4%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €28,190 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 €28,190 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 72% of compared French towns.
22% of households are headed by a manual worker, more 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
29% of households are headed by a retired person; in the typical compared French town the figure is 32%. Households headed by a manager or professional: nearly a tenth of the total. For comparison, 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).
A smaller share of immigrants than 98% of compared French towns: 1.3%
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.
The median compared commune in Nord has 4.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 98% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%. For Wambaix, the census puts foreign nationals at 0.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 97% of compared French towns: 18% of residents 15 and over are single
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
Compared with 43% in the typical compared French town, 46% of residents 15 and over are married here. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Wambaix sits below 98% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (8.5%)
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
30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, against 38% in Wambaix. By way of comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (381 to 2,582 people), the 10th youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 4 are older than Wambaix
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wambaix | 42.5 | 19% | 0.6% | 1.3% |
| Cambrai 31,134 · 4.1 mi | 45 | 24% | 1.8% | 5.1% |
| Masnières 2,689 · 4.4 mi | 40 | 19% | 0.7% | 2.1% |
| Escaudœuvres 3,171 · 4.6 mi | 46.2 | 26% | 1% | 4% |
| Caudry 13,833 · 4.8 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 1% | 2.4% |
| Proville 3,206 · 4.8 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 0.5% | 2.7% |
| Neuville-Saint-Rémy 4,012 · 5.5 mi | 41.6 | 23% | 0.9% | 3.4% |
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 Wambaix
What is the population of Wambaix?
381 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 15% more than in 2012 (331).
How old are Wambaix’s residents?
The median age is 42.5, younger than 62% of compared French towns. 26% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Wambaix?
1, with occasional dwellings: 0.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Wambaix?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.3% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (0.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Wambaix?
€28,190 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 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.