38% of households are couples with children, a share 97% of compared French towns don’t reach
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Pelves is home to 770 residents in 310 households, by the 2023 Census. Put another way, about one in 83: 1.2% of homes are flats. Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car in Pelves comes in at 4%.
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 Pelves
A town of families
38% of households are couples with children and 7.9% single parents with children; 18% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A +7% change since 2012: faster than 61% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Pas-de-Calais town −1%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +3%; from 2017 to 2023, +4%.
A median age of 42.4: Pelves is younger than 63% 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
■ Pelves 42.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 11%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few residents aged 65 and over: 21% here, fewer than in just over three fifths of compared French towns.
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 Pelves, 24% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 95% 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
Against a figure of 10% in the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households in Pelves comes in at 7.9%. For one-person households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 35%. Households here average 2.5 people each.
Empty homes: 4.7%, a lower share than 79% 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
4.6% of households arrived within the last two years, while 33% have stayed 30 years or more. As a yardstick, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Second homes are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
The median resident lives on €27,730 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.
Half of residents live in households above €27,730 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 68% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person: 35%, a higher share than 66% of compared French towns
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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 8.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Pelves. The benchmark for households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town: 32%. Households headed by a manual worker account for 13%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Pelves, 0.9% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
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.
The share of foreign nationals is 0.4%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Pelves, 20% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 89% 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
47% of residents 15 and over are married, against 43% in the typical compared French town. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
35% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 66% 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
The figure for adults with no qualification is 17% in Pelves and 19% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, graduates of higher education come to 30%.
The 10th youngest of 41 French towns of 770 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Pelves and its 6 nearest towns: 2 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pelves | 42.4 | 21% | 0% | 0.9% |
| Biache-Saint-Vaast 4,568 · 2 mi | 38.5 | 17% | 0.4% | 1.1% |
| Vitry-en-Artois 4,849 · 3.9 mi | 41.4 | 22% | 0.6% | 1.3% |
| Saint-Laurent-Blangy 6,459 · 5 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 0.6% | 3.1% |
| Brebières 5,283 · 5.6 mi | 40.6 | 18% | 0.3% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Nicolas 4,494 · 5.8 mi | 43.9 | 24% | 0.6% | 5.1% |
| Beaurains 5,559 · 6 mi | 43 | 20% | 0.4% | 2.4% |
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 Pelves
What is the population of Pelves?
770 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (717).
How old are Pelves’ residents?
The median age is 42.4, younger than 63% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pelves?
0, with occasional dwellings: 0% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pelves?
INSEE counts 7 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.9% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (0.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pelves?
€27,730 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 4, 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.