A smaller share of one-person households than 99% of compared French towns: 21%
In Quelmes, 2.2% of homes are flats, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. The 2023 Census counted 529 residents in 220 households. About one in 48: that is how common households headed by a manager or professional are in Quelmes (2.1%). At 6.1%, the share of households without a car is lower than in 79% 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 Quelmes
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 2.4% single parents with children; 15% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Quelmes had 562 residents at the 2012 census and 529 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +2%, then −8% to 2023. Over those years, the median Pas-de-Calais town changed −1% and the median compared French town +5%.
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 82% of compared French towns: 17%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Quelmes 46.2. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 46.2, Quelmes is older than 65% of compared French towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 12%.
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%.
Quelmes sits above 91% of compared French towns for couples with children (34%)
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
On average, 2.4 people share a household. Against that, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Quelmes sits below 66% of compared French towns for empty homes (5.6%)
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Across Quelmes, 1.7% of homes are second homes. Without a car: one household in 16, against 11% in the median compared French town.
€25,920 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.
Half of Quelmes’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,920 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 51% of compared French towns.
25% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 96% 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
Households headed by a retired person: 27%, below 77% of compared French towns. The benchmark for households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town: 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 99% of compared French towns: 0.2%
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.
The median compared commune in Pas-de-Calais has 1.7%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% 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.
A higher share of married residents than 99% of compared French towns, at 55%
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
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, 18% of residents 15 and over are single here. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 63% of compared French towns: 26%
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
Put another way, about one in five: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 529 to 2,582 people, the 18th oldest
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).
Quelmes and its 6 nearest towns: 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quelmes | 46.2 | 17% | 1.7% | 0.2% |
| Lumbres 3,579 · 2.1 mi | 42.9 | 22% | 1% | 0.7% |
| Saint-Martin-lez-Tatinghem 5,843 · 4.2 mi | 47.1 | 25% | 1% | 2.7% |
| Wizernes 3,321 · 4.4 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 0.6% | 1.2% |
| Longuenesse 10,548 · 5.3 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 0.6% | 6.8% |
| Saint-Omer 14,382 · 5.5 mi | 36.7 | 17% | 2.4% | 5.5% |
| Éperlecques 3,737 · 5.8 mi | 39.8 | 18% | 3.4% | 0.5% |
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 Quelmes
What is the population of Quelmes?
529 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (562).
How old are Quelmes’ residents?
The median age is 46.2, older than 65% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Quelmes?
4, with occasional dwellings: 1.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Quelmes?
INSEE counts 1 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.2% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Quelmes?
€25,920 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.