More households headed by a manager or professional than 95% of compared French towns: 26%
Half of Wasquehal’s residents are under 40.2, younger than in 78% of compared French towns. This Nord town counted 20,726 residents and 9,480 households at the 2023 Census. Census figures put households in social housing at 20% locally. With households without a car at 16%, Wasquehal is ahead of 71% of compared French towns on that count.
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 Wasquehal
Many graduates
49% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 23% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 66% of compared French towns grew faster than Wasquehal: +1%
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: ±0% from 2012 to 2017, then +1% to 2023.
A smaller share of residents aged 65 and over than 65% of compared French towns: 20%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Wasquehal 40.2. The median compared French town: 44.
At 11%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in nearly three fifths of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
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%.
In Wasquehal, 39% of households are one person living alone, more than in 64% 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
There are 2.2 people in the average household. Measured more widely, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. 9.5% of households are single parents, a lower share than in 59% of compared French towns. The figure for couples with children is 26% in Wasquehal and 25% in the typical compared French town.
Only 0.7% of homes are second homes in Wasquehal
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. As a reference point, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Flats come to 39% in Wasquehal, about four in ten. At 5.7%, the share of empty homes is lower than in 64% of compared French towns.
A typical living standard of €28,800 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 €28,800 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 77% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 12.1% of residents are below the line.
In Wasquehal, 7.8% of households are headed by a manual worker, fewer than in 88% 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
32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, against 29% in Wasquehal. The comparison figure for households headed by a manual worker is 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 7.5%, a higher share than 57% of compared French towns
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 Wasquehal, 4.9% of residents are foreign nationals. For 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.
Fewer married residents than 64% of compared French towns: 41%
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
Locally, just over a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
Wasquehal sits above 92% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (49%)
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: 15% here and 19% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 20,143 to 21,379 people: this is the 20th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Carrières-sous-Poissy is the youngest (32.6); Concarneau the oldest (53.9).
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 3 are older than Wasquehal
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wasquehal | 40.2 | 20% | 0.7% | 7.5% |
| Croix 20,566 · 1 mi | 39.1 | 18% | 1.4% | 9.1% |
| Marcq-en-Barœul 40,184 · 1.9 mi | 41.4 | 20% | 1.3% | 8% |
| Mouvaux 13,369 · 1.9 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 1.6% | 5.2% |
| Roubaix 98,286 · 2.3 mi | 32 | 12% | 0.7% | 22% |
| Mons-en-Barœul 21,105 · 2.6 mi | 36.2 | 16% | 0.9% | 17% |
| Bondues 9,747 · 2.7 mi | 47.1 | 25% | 0.7% | 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 Wasquehal
What is the population of Wasquehal?
20,726 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (20,536).
How old are Wasquehal’s residents?
The median age is 40.2, younger than 78% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Wasquehal?
67, with occasional dwellings: 0.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Wasquehal?
INSEE counts 1,560 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.5% of residents, and 1,010 foreign nationals (4.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Wasquehal?
€28,800 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 12.1% 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.