39% of households are couples with children, more than in 98% of compared French towns
In Ouve-Wirquin, 31% of households are headed by a manual worker, beside 14% in the typical compared French town. For Ouve-Wirquin, the census puts households in social housing at 3.3%. Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 493 residents in 210 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 Ouve-Wirquin
A town of families
39% of households are couples with children and 7.1% single parents with children; 18% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Ouve-Wirquin had 524 residents at the 2012 census and 493 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 91% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A −6% change since 2012: slower than 91% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was −3%; from 2017 to 2023, −3%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Pas-de-Calais town −1%.
A median age of 40.4: Ouve-Wirquin is younger than 77% 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
■ Ouve-Wirquin 40.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 11%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. In Ouve-Wirquin, 20% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Below 93% of compared French towns: 25% of households are one person living alone
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
Where 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Ouve-Wirquin has 7.1%. The wider picture: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.4 people.
A town of second homes: 4.7% of its homes
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
Here 8% of households have no car, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. Second homes: 2.1% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. For Ouve-Wirquin, the census puts empty homes at 7.2%.
Median standard of living: €23,610 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 Ouve-Wirquin’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €23,610 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 76% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 99% of compared French towns: 2.4%
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
The share of households headed by a retired person trails just over four fifths of compared French towns: 26%. Measured more widely, 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).
Only 0.8% of residents are immigrants in Ouve-Wirquin
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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Ouve-Wirquin, 0.8%. That is lower than in 99% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Pas-de-Calais has 1.7%. Across the comparison, 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.
18% of residents 15 and over are single, below 98% 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 47% of residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Only 26% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Ouve-Wirquin
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
By its share of adults with no qualification (22%), Ouve-Wirquin is above nearly two thirds of compared French towns. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (493 to 2,582 people), the 4th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
5 of 6 neighbors are older than Ouve-Wirquin
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ouve-Wirquin | 40.4 | 20% | 4.7% | 0.8% |
| Lumbres 3,579 · 3.8 mi | 42.9 | 22% | 1% | 0.7% |
| Wizernes 3,321 · 5.5 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 0.6% | 1.2% |
| Blendecques 4,859 · 7.1 mi | 43.7 | 21% | 0.9% | 1.2% |
| Longuenesse 10,548 · 7.6 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 0.6% | 6.8% |
| Saint-Martin-lez-Tatinghem 5,843 · 7.7 mi | 47.1 | 25% | 1% | 2.7% |
| Saint-Omer 14,382 · 8.4 mi | 36.7 | 17% | 2.4% | 5.5% |
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 Ouve-Wirquin
What is the population of Ouve-Wirquin?
493 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (524).
How old are Ouve-Wirquin’s residents?
The median age is 40.4, younger than 77% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ouve-Wirquin?
11, with occasional dwellings: 4.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ouve-Wirquin?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.8% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ouve-Wirquin?
€23,610 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.