Couples with children: 37%, a higher share than 96% of compared French towns
Here 1.8% of homes are flats, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Ecques’s population at 2,181, in 840 households. Across Ecques, 3.6% of households have no car.
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 Ecques
A town of families
37% of households are couples with children and 8.4% single parents with children; 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Ecques grew +7% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 61% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −1% in Pas-de-Calais.
17% of residents are 65 or over, below 81% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ecques 42.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Ecques’s residents are under 42.3, younger than in 63% of compared French towns. On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. The census found that 9.7% of residents are 15 to 24 in the town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Only 20% of households are one person living alone in Ecques
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
Where one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Ecques has 8.4%. Households here average 2.5 people each. The wider picture: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Fewer second homes than 91% of compared French towns: 0.7%
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
Little separates the share of empty homes here, 5.8%, from the figure in the typical compared French town. 7.6% of households moved in less than two years ago; 28% have been in their home 30 years or more. Elsewhere, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €26,340 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 midpoint of living standards here is €26,340 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 54% of compared French towns. One measure of hardship: 7.0% of residents are below the poverty line.
A lower share of households headed by a manager or professional than 77% of compared French towns, at 5.9%
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
Here 17% of households are headed by a manual worker, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 14%. Across the comparison, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. Census figures put households headed by a retired person at 31% in Ecques.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 99% of compared French towns: 0.9%
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 0.5%, Ecques is behind 99% of compared French towns on that count. Typically, 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 lower share of single residents than 99% of compared French towns, at 16%
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
Here just over half of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Only 18% of adults out of school have no qualification in Ecques
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
The share of graduates of higher education stands at 30%. The usual figure: 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (2,181 to 2,582 people), the 10th 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 Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Ecques is younger than 5 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ecques | 42.3 | 17% | 0.7% | 0.9% |
| Blendecques 4,859 · 2.9 mi | 43.7 | 21% | 0.9% | 1.2% |
| Wizernes 3,321 · 3.7 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 0.6% | 1.2% |
| Arques 9,431 · 4.1 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 1% | 2.8% |
| Longuenesse 10,548 · 4.6 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 0.6% | 6.8% |
| Aire-sur-la-Lys 9,598 · 5.2 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 0.4% | 1% |
| Saint-Omer 14,382 · 5.5 mi | 36.7 | 17% | 2.4% | 5.5% |
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 Ecques
What is the population of Ecques?
2,181 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (2,032).
How old are Ecques’ residents?
The median age is 42.3, younger than 63% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ecques?
6, with occasional dwellings: 0.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ecques?
INSEE counts 19 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.9% of residents, and 10 foreign nationals (0.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ecques?
€26,340 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 7.0% 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.