More couples with children than 99% of compared French towns: 47%
In the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%; Esches has 2.1%. Its 540 households held 1,623 residents at the 2023 Census. On the census count, 7.2% of homes are flats. At 4%, the share of empty homes is lower than in 87% of compared French towns.
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 Esches
A town of families
47% of households are couples with children and 6.3% single parents with children; 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing fast
Esches had 1,331 residents at the 2012 census and 1,623 in 2023, up 22%: faster growth than in 92% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, Esches outgrew 92% of compared French towns: +22%
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 population moved +18%, and from 2017 to 2023 +3%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Oise town +2%.
Only 16% of residents are 65 or over in Esches
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Esches 40.3. The median compared French town: 44.
In Esches, 13% of residents are 15 to 24, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Half of the town’s residents are under 40.3, younger than in 77% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Oise 51.7%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 14% in Esches, less than in 99% 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
Households here average 2.9 people each. 6.3% of households are single parents, a lower share than in 95% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households is 35%.
Esches ranks below 92% of compared French towns on households in social housing: 3.5%
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, 3.9% moved in during the last two years and 18% have stayed three decades or more. In the typical compared French town, the share of households in social housing is 12%. Esches has fewer second homes than 85% of compared French towns, at 0.9%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €29,900 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €29,900 a year: higher than in 84% of compared French towns.
Below 99% of compared French towns: 16% of households are headed by a retired person
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
Against a figure of 9.4% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional in Esches comes in at 15%. Just over one in ten households are headed by a manual worker, fewer than in 71% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Esches, 7.5% of residents are immigrants, more than in 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.
The median compared commune in Oise has 7.4%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 57% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The share of foreign nationals stands at 4.7%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Above 75% of compared French towns: 29% 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
With married residents at 44%, Esches is ahead of 61% of compared French towns on that count. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
15% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 71% of compared French towns
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, nearly a third of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification here. The share of adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,623 to 2,582 people), the 4th 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.
Esches sits below 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esches | 40.3 | 16% | 0.9% | 7.5% |
| Bornel 4,832 · 1.9 mi | 40.7 | 17% | 1.4% | 6.6% |
| Méru 13,897 · 1.9 mi | 36.7 | 15% | 0.7% | 19% |
| Andeville 3,434 · 2.7 mi | 39 | 15% | 1.1% | 6.7% |
| Sainte-Geneviève 3,505 · 5 mi | 36.6 | 13% | 1.4% | 5.9% |
| Chambly 9,959 · 5.1 mi | 40.1 | 17% | 0.9% | 8.6% |
| Neuilly-en-Thelle 4,127 · 5.3 mi | 36.7 | 14% | 0.9% | 6.4% |
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 Esches
What is the population of Esches?
1,623 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 22% more than in 2012 (1,331).
How old are Esches’ residents?
The median age is 40.3, younger than 77% of compared French towns. 26% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Esches?
5, with occasional dwellings: 0.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Esches?
INSEE counts 120 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.5% of residents, and 77 foreign nationals (4.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Esches?
€29,900 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 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.