Half of Laires is under 36.1, younger than 94% of compared French towns
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Laires’s population at 365, in 140 households. Census figures put one-person households at 22% in the town. Against a figure of 9.4% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional in Laires comes in at 3.5%.
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 Laires
A town of families
39% of households are couples with children and 3.6% single parents with children; 23% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A young town
Half of Laires’ residents are under 36.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 23% are under 15 and 16% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Laires has changed by +2%, slower than 63% 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%.
Laires sits below 88% of compared French towns for residents aged 65 and over (16%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Laires 36.1. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 12% in Laires and 11% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 114 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of couples with children than 98% of compared French towns: 39%
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
There are 2.6 people in the average household. Measured more widely, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. At 3.6%, the share of single-parent households is lower than in 99% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households in social housing than 86% of compared French towns: 5%
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
With households without a car at 6.6%, Laires is behind just over three quarters of compared French towns on that count. Across Laires, 3.3% of homes are second homes. Empty homes are rarer here than in 71% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
€22,430 a year: the median standard of living
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.
Living standards centre on €22,430 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 86% of compared French towns.
Above 74% of compared French towns: 18% of households are headed by a manual worker
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
Compared with 32% in the typical compared French town, 36% of households are headed by a retired person here. 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).
Laires sits below 99% of compared French towns for immigrants (1.1%)
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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 1.1% of residents are foreign nationals here. By way of comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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 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.
24% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 64% 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
Here, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
19% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 88% 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
Adults with no qualification come to 20% in Laires, about two in ten. In the typical compared French town, graduates of higher education come to 30%.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 365 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.
The youngest is Laires (36.1), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Laires 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laires | 36.1 | 16% | 3.3% | 1.1% |
| Cauchy-à-la-Tour 2,593 · 8.9 mi | 44.7 | 23% | 1.2% | 0.8% |
| Burbure 2,834 · 9.3 mi | 43.1 | 20% | 1.2% | 0.7% |
| Aire-sur-la-Lys 9,598 · 9.3 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 0.4% | 1% |
| Auchel 10,051 · 9.7 mi | 40 | 20% | 0.5% | 1% |
| Lillers 10,193 · 9.9 mi | 40.8 | 20% | 0.5% | 1.9% |
| Isbergues 8,650 · 10.5 mi | 46.1 | 25% | 1.2% | 0.8% |
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 Laires
What is the population of Laires?
365 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (359).
How old are Laires’ residents?
The median age is 36.1, younger than 94% of compared French towns. 27% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Laires?
5, with occasional dwellings: 3.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Laires?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.1% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (1.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Laires?
€22,430 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.