Photo: U.S. Army Air Forces Spot Number D8520, Sortie PP16-30PRS, Exposure RSV-2034 · Public domainA larger share of households headed by a manual worker than 93% of compared French towns: 23%
Households in social housing are more common here than in 83% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 9,431 residents and 4,200 households in Arques. The share of households without a car stands at 15%. Empty homes: 4.8% here and 6.7% in the typical compared French town.
Throughout this page, the Pas-de-Calais 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 Arques
Fewer residents than in 2012
Arques had 9,958 residents at the 2012 census and 9,431 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 89% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −5% since 2012, behind 89% 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
In two steps, −2% to 2017 and −3% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −1% in Pas-de-Calais.
12% of residents are 15 to 24, a share 72% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Arques 43.9. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over; in Arques, 21%. Half of the town’s residents are under 43.9, younger than in 51% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of single-parent households than 78% of compared French towns: 12%
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 Pas-de-Calais median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2.2 people. As a reference point, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. One-person households are more common here than in 55% of compared French towns. Couples with children are about as common here as in the typical compared French town: 25%.
1% of homes are second homes, fewer than in 79% of compared French towns
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
One household in seven has no car (median compared French town: 11%). For comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Flats make up about one in four here (24%).
Median standard of living: €21,840 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 Arques is €21,840 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 89% of compared French towns. 22.0% of residents have a standard of living below 60% of France’s median.
In Arques, 5.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 78% 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 retired person make up 31%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, nearly one in ten 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).
Arques sits below 83% of compared French towns for immigrants (2.8%)
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.
Foreign nationals: 2.2% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Pas-de-Calais has 1.7%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 83% of compared French towns. 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.
Married residents make up 37% in Arques, less than in 82% 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
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, 28% of residents 15 and over are single here. The benchmark for married residents in the typical compared French town: 43%.
20% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 87% 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
By its share of adults with no qualification (26%), Arques is above 82% of compared French towns. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 9,291 to 9,570 people, the 21st 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.
At the ends of the range sit Vert-Saint-Denis (35.7), the youngest, and Carqueiranne (57.9), the oldest.
A younger town than 2 of the 6 around it: Arques
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arques | 43.9 | 21% | 1% | 2.8% |
| Blendecques 4,859 · 1.7 mi | 43.7 | 21% | 0.9% | 1.2% |
| Longuenesse 10,548 · 1.8 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 0.6% | 6.8% |
| Saint-Omer 14,382 · 2.1 mi | 36.7 | 17% | 2.4% | 5.5% |
| Saint-Martin-lez-Tatinghem 5,843 · 3.3 mi | 47.1 | 25% | 1% | 2.7% |
| Wizernes 3,321 · 3.4 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 0.6% | 1.2% |
| Watten 2,564 · 7.6 mi | 43 | 23% | 2.9% | 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 Arques
What is the population of Arques?
9,431 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (9,958).
How old are Arques’ residents?
The median age is 43.9, younger than 51% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Arques?
47, with occasional dwellings: 1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Arques?
INSEE counts 270 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.8% of residents, and 210 foreign nationals (2.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Arques?
€21,840 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 22.0% 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.