Beauvais: 15% of residents are 15 to 24, above 96% of compared French towns
Households without a car are more common here than in 90% of compared French towns. 55,550 residents in 25,530 households: that is Beauvais at the 2023 Census. On the census count, 14% of households are single parents. The share of flats is 66%, against 30% in the typical compared French town.
Throughout this page, the Oise 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 Beauvais
Immigrants
INSEE counts 8,500 immigrants in Beauvais (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 15% of residents, against 7.4% for the median compared commune in Oise. 12% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Social housing
31% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 30% rent privately and 36% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
A young town
Half of Beauvais’ residents are under 38.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 18% are under 15 and 18% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Beauvais changed by +2% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 60% 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 +4%; from 2017 to 2023, −1%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Oise town +2%.
Beauvais is younger than 87% of compared French towns: a median age of 38.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Beauvais 38.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 18% here and 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Oise 51.7%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 47% in Beauvais, more than in 87% 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 Oise median and the France median
Living alone · share
The typical household size is 2.1 people. On average, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Couples with children come to 19% in Beauvais, about two in ten.
A higher share of households in social housing than 93% of compared French towns, at 31%
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
In the last two years, 14% of households moved in; at the other end, 14% have stayed 30 years or more. By way of comparison, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. 9.6% of homes stand empty, more than in 76% of compared French towns. Car-free households: one in four, where the median compared French town has 11%.
Half above, half below €21,400 a year in standard of living
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 €21,400 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 92% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 27.3% of residents are below the line.
28% of households are headed by a retired person, below 73% 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: 17%, above 68% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Across Beauvais, one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Beauvais ranks above 86% of compared French towns on immigrants: 15%
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 12%, Beauvais is ahead of 88% of compared French towns on that count. The wider picture: 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.
A smaller share of married residents than 97% of compared French towns: 31%
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
By its share of single residents (39%), Beauvais is above 97% of compared French towns. For comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of adults with no qualification than 83% of compared French towns: 27%
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
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 27% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification here. The benchmark for adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town: 19%.
The 19th oldest of 41 French towns of 50,979 to 60,505 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.
Ages run from 32.5 in Vaulx-en-Velin to 50.9 in Hyères.
Around Beauvais, 5 of 6 towns have a higher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beauvais | 38.4 | 18% | 1.6% | 15% |
| Auneuil 2,898 · 5.9 mi | 43.3 | 20% | 2.2% | 3.8% |
| Bresles 4,029 · 7.5 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 1.2% | 2.2% |
| Noailles 2,877 · 8.8 mi | 40.4 | 18% | 1.2% | 4.9% |
| Sainte-Geneviève 3,505 · 11 mi | 36.6 | 13% | 1.4% | 5.9% |
| Crèvecœur-le-Grand 3,462 · 12.1 mi | 43.7 | 24% | 1.2% | 1.9% |
| Andeville 3,434 · 12.5 mi | 39 | 15% | 1.1% | 6.7% |
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 Beauvais
What is the population of Beauvais?
55,550 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (54,289).
How old are Beauvais’ residents?
The median age is 38.4, younger than 87% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Beauvais?
460, with occasional dwellings: 1.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Beauvais?
INSEE counts 8,460 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 15% of residents, and 6,880 foreign nationals (12%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Beauvais?
€21,400 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 27.3% 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 October 30, 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.