Above 97% of compared French towns: 37% of households rent social housing (HLM)
15% of residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). Households headed by a manual worker account for 21%. Few places have as many single-parent households: 13% here, more than in 88% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Lens’s population at 32,920, in 15,790 households.
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 Lens
Social housing
37% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 33% rent privately and 27% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Lens changed by +1% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 67% 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
In two steps, −4% to 2017 and +5% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −1% in Pas-de-Calais.
Younger than 78% of compared French towns: half of Lens is under 40.3
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lens 40.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 21% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 22%.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 45%, a higher share than 84% 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
On average, 2.1 people share a household. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%. Compared with other places, couples with children are scarce here: 20%, fewer than in three quarters of compared French towns.
In Lens, 28% of households have no car, more than in 94% 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
Set against 6.7% in the typical compared French town, 11% of homes stand empty in Lens. Flats are more common here than in 63% of compared French towns. About one in 91: that is how common second homes are in Lens (1.1%).
A median of €18,660 a year per consumption unit
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.
The median standard of living in Lens is €18,660 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 98% of compared French towns. The poverty rate is 35.4%.
Lens ranks below 85% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 5.1%
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
Against a figure of 32% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person in Lens comes in at 30%. Set beside that, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Lens sits above 68% of compared French towns for foreign nationals (6.7%)
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.
With immigrants at 8.1%, Lens is ahead of 61% of compared French towns on that count. Set beside that, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
Below 95% of compared French towns: 33% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%; Lens has 33%. Against that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
31% of adults out of school have no qualification, a share 93% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, Lens has 19%.
The 17th oldest of 41 French towns of 30,838 to 35,173 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 32.7 in Trappes to 48.5 in Aix-les-Bains.
A younger town than 3 of the 6 around it: Lens
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lens | 40.3 | 21% | 1.1% | 8.1% |
| Éleu-dit-Leauwette 2,805 · 1.1 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 0.3% | 4.4% |
| Loison-sous-Lens 5,169 · 1.7 mi | 40.6 | 20% | 0.3% | 3% |
| Loos-en-Gohelle 6,799 · 1.9 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 0.2% | 1.6% |
| Avion 17,435 · 2 mi | 38.9 | 16% | 0.3% | 5.1% |
| Sallaumines 9,414 · 2.1 mi | 38.2 | 19% | 0.4% | 8.9% |
| Liévin 30,063 · 2.2 mi | 39.6 | 19% | 0.5% | 4.1% |
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 Lens
What is the population of Lens?
32,920 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (32,663).
How old are Lens’ residents?
The median age is 40.3, younger than 78% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lens?
190, with occasional dwellings: 1.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lens?
INSEE counts 2,680 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.1% of residents, and 2,210 foreign nationals (6.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lens?
€18,660 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 35.4% 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 8, 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.