Photo: Frschoeller · CC BY-SA 4.0Half of Grenay is under 36.5, younger than 93% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4%; Grenay has 2%. Across Grenay, 0.1% of homes are second homes. Flats are rarer here than in 88% of compared French towns. This Pas-de-Calais town counted 6,644 residents and 2,710 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 Grenay
A young town
Half of Grenay’s residents are under 36.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 22% are under 15 and 14% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Social housing
40% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 32% rent privately and 26% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−3% since 2012: slower than 82% 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%.
A smaller share of residents aged 65 and over than 93% of compared French towns: 14%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Grenay 36.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 13%, above 86% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 22% of residents are 65 or over 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%.
Grenay: 15% of households are single parents, above 95% 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 2.4 people on average. Set beside that, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Few places have as many couples with children: 32% here, more than in just over four fifths of compared French towns.
A larger share of households in social housing than 98% of compared French towns: 40%
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
In the last two years, nearly one in ten households moved in; at the other end, 23% have stayed 30 years or more. Typically, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. Higher than in 85% of compared French towns: 21% of households have no car. 3.9% of homes stand empty, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €19,200 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 €19,200 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 98% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 31.0%.
More households headed by a manual worker than 99% of compared French towns: 31%
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 28% of households are headed by a retired person, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 32%. On average, 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).
1.6% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 96% 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.
Foreign nationals make up 1%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% 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.
Only 36% of residents 15 and over are married in Grenay
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%, above 64% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 99% of compared French towns, at 10%
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
Where nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Grenay has 30%.
41 French towns of 6,569 to 6,718 people: this is the 2nd 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.
Ages run from 36.3 in Chasse-sur-Rhône to 59.8 in Châtelaillon-Plage.
Nearby, 5 of 6 towns have older populations than Grenay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grenay | 36.5 | 14% | 0.1% | 1.6% |
| Bully-les-Mines 12,146 · 1 mi | 41.3 | 19% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Mazingarbe 8,217 · 1.5 mi | 35.8 | 14% | 0.3% | 1.1% |
| Loos-en-Gohelle 6,799 · 2 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 0.2% | 1.6% |
| Liévin 30,063 · 2.2 mi | 39.6 | 19% | 0.5% | 4.1% |
| Vermelles 4,729 · 2.4 mi | 38.7 | 17% | 0.4% | 1.2% |
| Aix-Noulette 3,902 · 2.4 mi | 43.4 | 22% | 0.5% | 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 Grenay
What is the population of Grenay?
6,644 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (6,855).
How old are Grenay’s residents?
The median age is 36.5, younger than 93% of compared French towns. 27% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Grenay?
2, with occasional dwellings: 0.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Grenay?
INSEE counts 100 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.6% of residents, and 68 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Grenay?
€19,200 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 31.0% 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.