More couples with children than 99% of compared French towns: 45%
2.3% of households have no car; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. There were 210 households in Wicres at the 2023 Census, home to 581 residents. Across Wicres, 1.8% of homes are flats. Compared with other places, second homes are scarce here: 0.5%, fewer than in 96% 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 Wicres
A town of families
45% of households are couples with children and 7.1% single parents with children; 29% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing fast
Wicres had 410 residents at the 2012 census and 581 in 2023, up 42%: faster growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
A young town
Half of Wicres’ residents are under 35.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are under 15 and 11% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Many graduates
53% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 19% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Wicres grew +42% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 99% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was +21%; from 2017 to 2023, +17%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Nord town ±0%.
Wicres is younger than 95% of compared French towns: a median age of 35.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Wicres 35.8. The median compared French town: 44.
In Wicres, one in ten residents are 15 to 24, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 98% of compared French towns.
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%.
Fewer one-person households than 99% of compared French towns: 19%
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 here average 2.8 people each. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Wicres has fewer single-parent households than 88% of compared French towns, at 7.1%.
Wicres sits below 64% of compared French towns for households in social housing (9.3%)
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
Of all households, 8.8% moved in during the last two years and 18% have stayed three decades or more. In the typical compared French town, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM). Lower than in just over three fifths of compared French towns: 5.9% of homes stand empty.
Standard of living at the median: €29,850 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.
The median standard of living in Wicres is €29,850 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 84% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a retired person than 96% of compared French towns, at 19%
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
Where 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, Wicres has 17%. Elsewhere, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manual worker are more common here than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 87% of compared French towns: 2.5%
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.
With foreign nationals at 1.2%, Wicres is behind 91% of compared French towns on that count. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 20% of residents 15 and over are single in Wicres
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
Married residents make up 46%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of graduates of higher education than 95% of compared French towns: 53%
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
Nearly one in ten adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 581 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Wicres is the youngest (35.8); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as young as Wicres
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wicres | 35.8 | 11% | 0.5% | 2.5% |
| Sainghin-en-Weppes 5,638 · 1.7 mi | 41.2 | 19% | 0.5% | 2.1% |
| Salomé 3,182 · 2.9 mi | 38.2 | 15% | 0.6% | 1.9% |
| Wavrin 7,758 · 3.3 mi | 42.3 | 19% | 1% | 2.2% |
| La Bassée 6,650 · 3.5 mi | 40.4 | 20% | 0.7% | 2.6% |
| Billy-Berclau 5,093 · 3.6 mi | 40.1 | 18% | 0.5% | 1.6% |
| Violaines 3,839 · 4.1 mi | 42.4 | 20% | 0.8% | 1.2% |
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 Wicres
What is the population of Wicres?
581 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 42% more than in 2012 (410).
How old are Wicres’ residents?
The median age is 35.8, younger than 95% of compared French towns. 33% are under 18 and 11% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Wicres?
1, with occasional dwellings: 0.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Wicres?
INSEE counts 15 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.5% of residents, and 7 foreign nationals (1.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Wicres?
€29,850 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.