Below 99% of compared French towns: 2% of households have no car
8% of homes are second homes; in the typical compared French town the figure is 2.1%. With a median age of 49.8, Fosseux is older than just over four fifths of compared French towns. The town is home to 119 residents in 57 households, by the 2023 Census. The census found that 40% of households are headed by a retired person locally.
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 Fosseux
Fewer residents than in 2012
Fosseux had 141 residents at the 2012 census and 119 in 2023, down 16%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−16% since 2012: slower than 99% 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%. The change was −4% from 2012 to 2017 and −13% from 2017 to 2023.
Fosseux ranks above 83% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 29%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Fosseux 49.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are about as common here as in the typical compared French town: 11%. As a yardstick, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 84 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fosseux sits above 75% of compared French towns for couples with children (30%)
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
Each household has 2.1 people on average. At 40%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 69% of compared French towns. The usual figure: a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. There is little gap on single-parent households: 10%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
More empty homes than 73% of compared French towns: 9.1%
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
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 6.7% of homes stand empty.
Median living standard: €22,540 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.
At €22,540 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
Fosseux sits above 83% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (20%)
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 manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
0% of residents in Fosseux 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.
Immigrants are rarer here 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.
Below 84% of compared French towns: 37% of residents 15 and over are married
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
Single residents: 27% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Adults with no qualification make up 10% in Fosseux, less than in 95% 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
Nearly a quarter of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
The 14th oldest of 41 French towns of 119 to 2,582 people
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 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
A younger town than 1 of the 6 around it: Fosseux
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fosseux | 49.8 | 29% | 8% | 0% |
| Dainville 5,683 · 7.5 mi | 50.9 | 32% | 0.5% | 2.4% |
| Anzin-Saint-Aubin 2,833 · 8.9 mi | 48.5 | 26% | 0.6% | 2.3% |
| Achicourt 7,873 · 9.1 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 0.8% | 5.7% |
| Arras 42,875 · 9.3 mi | 36.3 | 18% | 1.8% | 8.5% |
| Sainte-Catherine 3,471 · 9.4 mi | 47 | 24% | 0.4% | 2.7% |
| Beaurains 5,559 · 9.8 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 Fosseux
What is the population of Fosseux?
119 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 16% fewer than in 2012 (141).
How old are Fosseux’s residents?
The median age is 49.8, older than 82% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Fosseux?
5, with occasional dwellings: 8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Fosseux?
INSEE counts 0 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Fosseux?
€22,540 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). 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.