Photo: Felouch Kotek · CC0Auchel sits below 97% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (3%)
The figure for households without a car is 24% in Auchel and 11% in the typical compared French town. Second homes account for 0.5%. With a median age of 40, Auchel is younger than nearly four fifths of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 10,051 residents in the town, living in 4,250 households.
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 Auchel
Fewer residents than in 2012
Auchel had 10,991 residents at the 2012 census and 10,051 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Social housing
29% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 23% rent privately and 45% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 680 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Auchel changed by −9% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 96% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Pas-de-Calais town −1%. The first five years brought −6%; the six to 2023, −2%.
13% of residents are 15 to 24, a share 89% 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
■ Auchel 40. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 20% in Auchel and 22% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
More single-parent households than 87% of compared French towns: 13%
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
The typical household size is 2.3 people. On the census count, just over a quarter of households are couples with children. Single-parent households: 10% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A higher share of empty homes than 93% of compared French towns, at 14%
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
The share of flats is 19%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Auchel has more households in social housing than 92% of compared French towns, at 29%. The usual figure: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €19,120 a year per consumption unit
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 Auchel is €19,120 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 98% of compared French towns. 32.0% of the population lives below the poverty line.
In Auchel, 25% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 96% 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
In Auchel, 34% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for households headed by a manual worker is 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 99% of compared French towns: 1% of residents are immigrants
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.
0.7% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. The median compared commune in Pas-de-Calais has 1.7%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
36% of residents 15 and over are married, below 86% 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 the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%; Auchel has 28%. Across the comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 12%, a lower share than 99% 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
In Auchel, 31% of adults out of school have no qualification, beside 19% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
8th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 9,892 to 10,219
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Pierrelaye is the youngest (35.2); Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque the oldest (54.6).
Every neighbor is older than Auchel
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auchel | 40 | 20% | 0.5% | 1% |
| Cauchy-à-la-Tour 2,593 · 0.9 mi | 44.7 | 23% | 1.2% | 0.8% |
| Marles-les-Mines 5,411 · 1.3 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 0% | 1% |
| Calonne-Ricouart 5,369 · 1.5 mi | 41 | 20% | 0.4% | 1.1% |
| Burbure 2,834 · 1.9 mi | 43.1 | 20% | 1.2% | 0.7% |
| Allouagne 2,823 · 2.4 mi | 44.2 | 21% | 0.3% | 0.6% |
| Lapugnoy 3,481 · 2.9 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 0.7% | 0.9% |
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 Auchel
What is the population of Auchel?
10,051 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (10,991).
How old are Auchel’s residents?
The median age is 40, younger than 79% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Auchel?
24, with occasional dwellings: 0.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Auchel?
INSEE counts 100 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1% of residents, and 75 foreign nationals (0.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Auchel?
€19,120 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 32.0% 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 9, 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.