Photo: Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. U.S. Army Audiovisual Center. ca. 1974-5/15/1984 · Public domainA median age of 36.3: Arras is younger than 94% of compared French towns
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 66% of homes are flats here. 29% of households have no car, more than in 95% of compared French towns. Arras counted 42,875 residents and 21,680 households at the 2023 Census. The census found that one in ten homes stand empty in the 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 Arras
A young town
Half of Arras’ residents are under 36.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 17% are under 15 and 18% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
51% of Arras’ households are one person: higher than in 94% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Social housing
31% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 34% rent privately and 33% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Arras has changed by +4%, slower than 53% 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
The first five years brought −1%; the six to 2023, +5%.
Above 98% of compared French towns: 17% of residents are 15 to 24
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Arras 36.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 22% in the typical compared French town, 18% of residents are 65 or over here. Against that, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of one-person households than 94% of compared French towns: 51%
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
By its share of single-parent households (12%), Arras is above 77% of compared French towns. At the same time, fewer couples with children than in 85% of compared French towns: 17%. Set beside that, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. On average, 1.9 people share a household.
Arras sits above 93% of compared French towns for households in social housing (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
One household in three has no car (median compared French town: 11%). The census found that 1.8% of homes are second homes in Arras. Elsewhere, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €22,410 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 €22,410 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 86% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 26.1%.
Only 25% of households are headed by a retired person in Arras
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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 13% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Arras. Against that, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Above 72% of compared French towns: 7.5% of residents are foreign nationals
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.
Against a figure of 6.5% in the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants in Arras comes in at 8.5%. That is higher than in 63% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Pas-de-Calais has 1.7%. For comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
29% of residents 15 and over are married, below 98% 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
In Arras, 37% of residents 15 and over are single, beside 25% in the typical compared French town. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
36% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 68% 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
Adults with no qualification make up about one in five here (19%). For comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 40,250 to 45,560 people, the 9th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Stains (32.4), the youngest, and Sète (53.6), the oldest.
No nearby town is as young as Arras
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arras | 36.3 | 18% | 1.8% | 8.5% |
| Sainte-Catherine 3,471 · 1.2 mi | 47 | 24% | 0.4% | 2.7% |
| Achicourt 7,873 · 1.2 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 0.8% | 5.7% |
| Saint-Nicolas 4,494 · 1.3 mi | 43.9 | 24% | 0.6% | 5.1% |
| Saint-Laurent-Blangy 6,459 · 1.7 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 0.6% | 3.1% |
| Dainville 5,683 · 1.8 mi | 50.9 | 32% | 0.5% | 2.4% |
| Beaurains 5,559 · 2 mi | 43 | 20% | 0.4% | 2.4% |
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 Arras
What is the population of Arras?
42,875 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (41,239).
How old are Arras’ residents?
The median age is 36.3, younger than 94% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Arras?
440, with occasional dwellings: 1.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Arras?
INSEE counts 3,660 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.5% of residents, and 3,210 foreign nationals (7.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Arras?
€22,410 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 26.1% 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.