Half of Mercatel is under 36, younger than 94% of compared French towns
With empty homes at 2.3%, Mercatel is behind 98% of compared French towns on that count. Census day 2023: 730 residents and 290 households locally. Put another way, about one in 22: 4.5% of households have no car. Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
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 Mercatel
A young town
Half of Mercatel’s residents are under 36 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 22% are under 15 and 14% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 6.9% single parents with children; 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing fast
Mercatel had 611 residents at the 2012 census and 730 in 2023, up 19%: faster growth than in 89% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
+19% since 2012, a pace 89% of compared French towns didn’t match
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 Pas-de-Calais town changed −1% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +14% and the next six +5%.
In Mercatel, 14% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 92% 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
■ Mercatel 36. The median compared French town: 44.
In Mercatel, 9.9% of residents are 15 to 24, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
In Mercatel, 34% of households are couples with children, more than in 91% 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
Households average 2.5 people. On average, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, one-person households are scarce here: 26%, fewer than in 91% of compared French towns. Single-parent households: 6.9% here and 10% in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of households in social housing than 90% of compared French towns, at 4.1%
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
27% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 11% moved in within the last two years. On second homes, Mercatel sits lower than four fifths of compared French towns: 1%. By way of comparison, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
€26,870 a year is the median standard of living here
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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €26,870 a year: higher than in 60% of compared French towns.
14% of households are headed by a manager or professional, a share 72% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Just over a third of households are headed by a retired person, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Mercatel has fewer households headed by a manual worker than 51% of compared French towns, at 14%. Against that, 9.4% of 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).
Below 99% of compared French towns: 1.1% of residents 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.
Foreign nationals make up 0.6%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
Mercatel sits below 93% of compared French towns for single residents (20%)
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
Married residents account for 44%. Against that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Mercatel ranks below 65% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 16%
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
30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, a lower share than in 50% of compared French towns. On average, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 730 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 Mercatel (36), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Mercatel 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercatel | 36 | 14% | 1% | 1.1% |
| Beaurains 5,559 · 2 mi | 43 | 20% | 0.4% | 2.4% |
| Achicourt 7,873 · 2.7 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 0.8% | 5.7% |
| Arras 42,875 · 3.9 mi | 36.3 | 18% | 1.8% | 8.5% |
| Dainville 5,683 · 4.4 mi | 50.9 | 32% | 0.5% | 2.4% |
| Saint-Laurent-Blangy 6,459 · 4.6 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 0.6% | 3.1% |
| Saint-Nicolas 4,494 · 4.8 mi | 43.9 | 24% | 0.6% | 5.1% |
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 Mercatel
What is the population of Mercatel?
730 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 19% more than in 2012 (611).
How old are Mercatel’s residents?
The median age is 36, younger than 94% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mercatel?
3, with occasional dwellings: 1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mercatel?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.1% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (0.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mercatel?
€26,870 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 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.