In Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise, 1.6% of homes are flats, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
With a median age of 49.4, Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise is older than 81% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 826 people lived locally, in 380 households. Households headed by a retired person: just over two fifths of the total. Single-parent households make up 8%, against 10% in the typical compared French town.
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 Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise
Fewer residents than in 2012
Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise had 916 residents at the 2012 census and 826 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise changed by −10% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 97% 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 −4%, then −6% to 2023. Over those years, the median Pas-de-Calais town changed −1% and the median compared French town +5%.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 79% of compared French towns, at 28%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise 49.4. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (9.9%), Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise is below 67% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A smaller share of one-person households than 58% of compared French towns: 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
The typical household size is 2.2 people. For comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. In Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise, nearly a quarter of households are couples with children.
Fewer households without a car than 71% of compared French towns: 7.3%
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. In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten households have no car. Of all households, 9.8% moved in during the last two years and 30% have stayed three decades or more. Nothing unusual on second homes: 2.7%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
€24,020 a year: the median standard of living
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 Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,020 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 71% of compared French towns.
Above 83% of compared French towns: 20% of households are headed by a manual worker
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 manager or professional account for 9.3%. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a manual worker come to 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise ranks below 89% of compared French towns on immigrants: 2.2%
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.
4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, against 1.7% in Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise. Measured more widely, 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 97% 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
45% of residents 15 and over are married (typical compared French town: 43%). Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Only 23% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise
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 share of adults with no qualification tops just over three fifths of compared French towns: 21%. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 826 to 2,582 people, the 14th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise | 49.4 | 28% | 2.7% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise 4,677 · 0.9 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 1.5% | 1.8% |
| Frévent 3,259 · 7.6 mi | 49 | 27% | 1.7% | 1% |
| Divion 6,766 · 9.3 mi | 38.9 | 19% | 0.7% | 1% |
| Calonne-Ricouart 5,369 · 9.8 mi | 41 | 20% | 0.4% | 1.1% |
| Cauchy-à-la-Tour 2,593 · 9.9 mi | 44.7 | 23% | 1.2% | 0.8% |
| Houdain 6,945 · 10 mi | 43.3 | 22% | 0.5% | 0.9% |
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 Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise
What is the population of Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise?
826 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (916).
How old are Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise’s residents?
The median age is 49.4, older than 81% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise?
11, with occasional dwellings: 2.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise?
INSEE counts 18 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.2% of residents, and 14 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Michel-sur-Ternoise?
€24,020 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.