Le Ponchel is older than 91% of compared French towns: a median age of 53.3
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Across Le Ponchel, a quarter of households are headed by a manual worker. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 216, in 110 households. Against a figure of 10% in the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households in Le Ponchel comes in at 4.8%.
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 Le Ponchel
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 18 second homes and occasional dwellings in Le Ponchel, 12% of its 140 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 89% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Le Ponchel’s residents are under 53.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.8% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 19 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes make up 12% in Le Ponchel, more than in 90% of compared French towns
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
2.7% of households moved in less than two years ago; 35% have been in their home 30 years or more. Fewer households without a car than in 77% of compared French towns: 6.5%. Measured more widely, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Empty homes: 13%, above 91% of compared French towns.
A change of −2% since 2012 leaves Le Ponchel behind 77% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and −1% for the median Pas-de-Calais town, the change came in two steps: −6% from 2012 to 2017, then +4% to 2023.
In Le Ponchel, 4.9% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 99% 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
■ Le Ponchel 53.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 22% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Le Ponchel comes in at 34%. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Le Ponchel ranks above 77% of compared French towns on one-person households: 42%
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
The typical household size is 2 people. Couples with children account for 24%. For one-person households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 35%.
Median standard of living: €23,380 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.
Living standards centre on €23,380 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
In Le Ponchel, 55% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 99% of compared French towns
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
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 1.4% of residents are immigrants in Le Ponchel
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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 1% of residents are foreign nationals in Le Ponchel. That is lower than in 97% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Pas-de-Calais has 1.7%. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
21% of residents 15 and over are single, below 84% 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
On the census count, 42% of residents 15 and over are married. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Only 15% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Le Ponchel
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
Compared with 19% in the typical compared French town, just over a quarter of adults out of school have no qualification here. For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
Among 41 French towns of 216 to 2,582 people, the 7th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as old as Le Ponchel
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Ponchel | 53.3 | 34% | 12% | 1.4% |
| Auxi-le-Château 2,547 · 2.4 mi | 50.3 | 31% | 3.5% | 1.4% |
| Hesdin-la-Forêt 4,480 · 8.3 mi | 52.1 | 33% | 3.5% | 2.4% |
| Frévent 3,259 · 9.4 mi | 49 | 27% | 1.7% | 1% |
| Doullens 5,751 · 13.6 mi | 45.7 | 25% | 1.9% | 4.1% |
| Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise 4,677 · 14.3 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 1.5% | 1.8% |
| Abbeville 22,395 · 14.9 mi | 47.1 | 25% | 1.5% | 2.7% |
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 Le Ponchel
What is the population of Le Ponchel?
216 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (220).
How old are Le Ponchel’s residents?
The median age is 53.3, older than 91% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Le Ponchel?
18, with occasional dwellings: 12% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Le Ponchel?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.4% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Le Ponchel?
€23,380 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.