Photo: APPHIM · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in social housing: 38%, a higher share than 97% of compared French towns
By its share of households headed by a manager or professional (5%), Oignies is below 86% of compared French towns. Here, 0.5% of homes are second homes. At 17%, the share of households without a car is higher than in just over three quarters of compared French towns. 10,323 residents in 4,330 households: that is Oignies 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 Oignies
Social housing
38% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 16% rent privately and 43% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Oignies grew +6% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 54% 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 first five years brought ±0%; the six to 2023, +6%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Pas-de-Calais town −1%.
Half of Oignies is under 39.7, younger than 81% 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
■ Oignies 39.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. In Oignies, nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Above 70% of compared French towns: 29% of households are couples with children
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 2.3 people on average. In the typical compared French town, a quarter of households are couples with children. 11% of households are single parents, more than in 64% of compared French towns. On one-person households, 35% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of flats than 71% of compared French towns: 18%
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
Car-free households: one in six, where the median compared French town has 11%. The census found that 6.8% of homes stand empty in Oignies. The wider picture: 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €21,020 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.
Half of Oignies’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €21,020 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 93% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 26.0%.
A larger share of households headed by a manual worker than 82% of compared French towns: 20%
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
Census figures put households headed by a retired person at 33% in Oignies. As a reference point, 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).
6.5% of Oignies’ 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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in half of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Pas-de-Calais has 1.7%. In Oignies, 4.9% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Oignies, 28% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 69% 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
The share of married residents trails 62% of compared French towns: 41%. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
In Oignies, 20% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 84% 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
27% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
41 French towns of 10,160 to 10,493 people: this is the 10th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Serris (33.5), the youngest, and Fouesnant (57), the oldest.
Median age: 3 of the 6 towns around Oignies are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oignies | 39.7 | 19% | 0.5% | 6.5% |
| Libercourt 7,973 · 1.2 mi | 40.6 | 19% | 0.4% | 8.2% |
| Ostricourt 6,097 · 1.3 mi | 35.8 | 16% | 0.4% | 7% |
| Wahagnies 2,613 · 2 mi | 41.4 | 19% | 0.3% | 2.1% |
| Dourges 6,139 · 2.1 mi | 37.6 | 15% | 0.4% | 2.9% |
| Évin-Malmaison 4,628 · 2.3 mi | 39 | 17% | 0.2% | 6.6% |
| Courrières 10,176 · 2.4 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 0.1% | 3.5% |
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 Oignies
What is the population of Oignies?
10,323 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (9,771).
How old are Oignies’ residents?
The median age is 39.7, younger than 81% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Oignies?
24, with occasional dwellings: 0.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Oignies?
INSEE counts 670 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.5% of residents, and 510 foreign nationals (4.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Oignies?
€21,020 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 26.0% 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 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.