Below 97% of compared French towns: 2.5% of homes stand empty
One-person households make up 29%, against 35% in the typical compared French town. The census found that 44% of households are headed by a retired person in Zuydcoote. Lower than in 83% of compared French towns: 12% of homes are flats. Census day 2023: 1,630 residents and 620 households here.
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 Zuydcoote
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 100 second homes and occasional dwellings in Zuydcoote, 14% of its 740 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 64% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Zuydcoote’s residents are under 51.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 27% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Zuydcoote had 1,727 residents at the 2012 census and 1,630 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 90% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 90% of compared French towns: 14% of homes are second homes
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
Car-free households: one in 13, where the median compared French town has 11%. Elsewhere, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. For Zuydcoote, the census puts households in social housing at 17%. Fewer households without a car than in 70% of compared French towns: 7.4%.
Slower growth than 90% of compared French towns: Zuydcoote changed by −6% 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. Here the change came as −3% to 2017, then −3% to 2023.
A median age of 51.4: Zuydcoote is older than 87% 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
■ Zuydcoote 51.4. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (27%), Zuydcoote is above just over three quarters of compared French towns. Roughly one in ten: one in ten residents are 15 to 24.
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%.
A smaller share of single-parent households than 68% of compared French towns: 8.9%
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
On average, 2.2 people share a household. By way of comparison, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. In Zuydcoote, nearly a quarter of households are couples with children, beside 25% in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €27,730 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 €27,730 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 68% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 14%, a higher share than 72% 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 manual worker: 11% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 9.4% of 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).
2.6% of residents are immigrants, below 86% 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.
The median compared commune in Nord has 4.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 86% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. About one in 67: that is how common foreign nationals are in Zuydcoote (1.5%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
44% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 58% 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
About one in four: that is how common single residents are in Zuydcoote (25%). In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 57% of compared French towns: 28%
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 a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification, or about one in five. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,630 to 2,582 people), the 11th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Zuydcoote sits below 2 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zuydcoote | 51.4 | 27% | 14% | 2.6% |
| Bray-Dunes 4,189 · 1.4 mi | 52.7 | 32% | 56% | 4.8% |
| Ghyvelde 4,133 · 2 mi | 45.3 | 21% | 15% | 3.6% |
| Leffrinckoucke 4,078 · 2.2 mi | 52.1 | 28% | 3% | 3.4% |
| Téteghem-Coudekerque-Village 8,247 · 4 mi | 49.5 | 22% | 3.2% | 2.6% |
| Coudekerque-Branche 20,787 · 5.3 mi | 43 | 20% | 0.9% | 3.4% |
| Dunkerque 86,263 · 5.5 mi | 43.7 | 23% | 3.9% | 7.1% |
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 Zuydcoote
What is the population of Zuydcoote?
1,630 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (1,727).
How old are Zuydcoote’s residents?
The median age is 51.4, older than 87% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Zuydcoote?
100, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Zuydcoote?
INSEE counts 42 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.6% of residents, and 25 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Zuydcoote?
€27,730 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 8, 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.