Flats make up 5.5% in Oye-Plage, less than in 95% of compared French towns
With empty homes at 3.4%, Oye-Plage is behind 93% of compared French towns on that count. Census day 2023: 5,780 residents and 2,390 households here. Put another way, about one in three: a third of households are couples with children. Compared with other places, households without a car are scarce here: 5.2%, fewer than in 87% 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 Oye-Plage
One home in 10 is a second home
The census counted 280 second homes and occasional dwellings in Oye-Plage, 10% of its 2,760 homes: higher than in 88% of compared French towns. 32% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes: 10%, a higher share than 88% 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
Turnover: 7.4% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 25% have lived in their home 30 years or more. In the typical compared French town, 2.1% of homes are second homes. Oye-Plage sits close to the norm on households in social housing: 12%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
Faster growth than 61% of compared French towns: Oye-Plage changed by +7% since 2012
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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Pas-de-Calais town −1%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought ±0%; 2017 to 2023, +8%.
Oye-Plage is younger than 66% of compared French towns: a median age of 42
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Oye-Plage 42. The median compared French town: 44.
10% of residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). Locally, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
In Oye-Plage, 26% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 93% 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
The share of single-parent households trails 89% of compared French towns: 7.1%. Typically, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Median standard of living: €25,870 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.
The median standard of living in Oye-Plage is €25,870 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 51% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 11.0% of residents.
A higher share of households headed by a retired person than 56% of compared French towns, at 34%
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
In Oye-Plage, 15% of households are headed by a manual worker. Nearly a tenth of the town’s households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 34% by a retired person (32%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 98% of compared French towns: 1.2%
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, the share of foreign nationals is 4.3%; Oye-Plage has 0.7%. The median compared commune in Pas-de-Calais has 1.7%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 98% of compared French towns. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
20% of residents 15 and over are single, below 90% 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
With married residents at 47%, Oye-Plage is ahead of 78% of compared French towns on that count. As a reference point, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Below 60% of compared French towns: 17% of adults out of school have no qualification
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 30% in the typical compared French town, 28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification here. For comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 5,732 to 5,826 people: this is the 13th 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.
Viry is the youngest (35.9); Montmorillon the oldest (57.4).
Median age: 2 of the 6 towns around Oye-Plage 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oye-Plage | 42 | 22% | 10% | 1.2% |
| Grand-Fort-Philippe 4,887 · 3 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 5.7% | 1.2% |
| Gravelines 11,430 · 3.9 mi | 41.2 | 18% | 4.6% | 2.1% |
| Marck 10,467 · 4.8 mi | 41.7 | 19% | 1.6% | 1.2% |
| Audruicq 5,309 · 7.1 mi | 43 | 23% | 1.4% | 0.9% |
| Bourbourg 6,931 · 7.2 mi | 40.4 | 21% | 1.3% | 1.4% |
| Loon-Plage 5,952 · 7.7 mi | 41.8 | 18% | 0.7% | 1.5% |
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 Oye-Plage
What is the population of Oye-Plage?
5,780 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (5,378).
How old are Oye-Plage’s residents?
The median age is 42, younger than 66% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Oye-Plage?
280, with occasional dwellings: 10% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Oye-Plage?
INSEE counts 68 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.2% of residents, and 40 foreign nationals (0.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Oye-Plage?
€25,870 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 11.0% 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 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.