4.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 90% of compared French towns
Compared with 2.1% in the typical compared French town, 7% of homes are second homes here. Across Étaples, 20% of households have no car. Nearly a quarter of households rent social housing (HLM), more than in 85% of compared French towns. The town had 10,710 residents in 4,850 households at the 2023 Census.
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 Étaples
Fewer residents than in 2012
Étaples had 11,213 residents at the 2012 census and 10,710 in 2023, down 4%: slower growth than in 86% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Étaples’s population moved −4% on 2012, less than in 86% 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 median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Pas-de-Calais town −1%.
Étaples sits above 69% of compared French towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (12%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Étaples 43.6. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Étaples is 43.6, lower than in 53% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 65 and over come to 22% here, about two in ten.
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%.
Étaples: 11% of households are single parents, above 58% 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 Pas-de-Calais median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.2 people on average. One-person households are more common here than in 55% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. On couples with children, 25% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of empty homes than 65% of compared French towns: 5.7%
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
One household in five has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. On flats, Étaples sits lower than 53% of compared French towns: 28%. Against that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €21,560 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 €21,560 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 91% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 21.0%.
More households headed by a manual worker than 79% of compared French towns: 19%
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 36%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a manual worker come to 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.3% of residents are immigrants, below 98% 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 figure for foreign nationals is 0.9% in Étaples 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 98% of compared French towns. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Étaples sits below 62% of compared French towns for married residents (41%)
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
27% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 96% of compared French towns: 16%
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
29% of adults out of school have no qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 19%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (10,539 to 10,888 people), the 20th 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.
Ages run from 33.7 in Chanteloup-les-Vignes to 61.4 in Dinard.
Étaples is younger than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Étaples | 43.6 | 22% | 7% | 1.3% |
| Le Touquet-Paris-Plage 4,224 · 2.1 mi | 65.8 | 52% | 80% | 2.4% |
| Cucq 5,129 · 2.7 mi | 56.1 | 35% | 59% | 1.7% |
| Camiers 2,582 · 3.8 mi | 50.6 | 29% | 71% | 1.5% |
| Merlimont 3,342 · 4.6 mi | 54.8 | 34% | 67% | 2% |
| Rang-du-Fliers 4,297 · 6.9 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 7.5% | 2.6% |
| Neufchâtel-Hardelot 4,115 · 7.4 mi | 51.8 | 30% | 65% | 2.1% |
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 Étaples
What is the population of Étaples?
10,710 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (11,213).
How old are Étaples’ residents?
The median age is 43.6, younger than 53% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Étaples?
390, with occasional dwellings: 7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Étaples?
INSEE counts 140 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.3% of residents, and 99 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Étaples?
€21,560 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.0% 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.