Photo: FrDr · CC BY-SA 4.0Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise: 25% of households have no car, above 92% of compared French towns
The share of couples with children trails 81% of compared French towns: 18%. Locally, 22% of households are headed by a manual worker. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 69% of compared French towns. Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise had 4,677 residents in 2,310 households at the 2023 census.
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-Pol-sur-Ternoise
Fewer residents than in 2012
Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise had 5,113 residents at the 2012 census and 4,677 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 300 homes empty (11%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 96% of compared French towns grew faster than Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise: −9%
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, −6%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Pas-de-Calais town −1%.
Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise is older than 73% of compared French towns: a median age of 47.7
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise 47.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 12% here and 11% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 46% in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, more than in 86% 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
Households average 2 people. The benchmark for one-person households in the typical compared French town: 35%. Compared with other places, single-parent households are scarce here: 9.2%, fewer than in 63% of compared French towns.
A larger share of empty homes than 86% of compared French towns: 11%
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
Second homes: 1.5%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Across Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, 13% of households rent social housing (HLM).
Standard of living at the median: €20,400 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €20,400 a year: lower than in 95% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 28.0% of residents.
A higher share of households headed by a retired person than 69% of compared French towns, at 36%
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
By its share of households headed by a manager or professional (6.8%), Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise is below 69% of compared French towns. Households headed by a retired person: 32% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise sits below 93% of compared French towns for immigrants (1.8%)
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%; Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise has 1.1%. The median compared commune in Pas-de-Calais has 1.7%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 93% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 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.
30% of residents 15 and over are married, 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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise comes in at 31%. The wider picture: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
18% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 92% 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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise comes in at 27%. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 17th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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 30.5 in Auzeville-Tolosane to 62.9 in La Tremblade.
Around Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, 1 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise | 47.7 | 25% | 1.5% | 1.8% |
| Frévent 3,259 · 7.5 mi | 49 | 27% | 1.7% | 1% |
| Divion 6,766 · 9.8 mi | 38.9 | 19% | 0.7% | 1% |
| Cauchy-à-la-Tour 2,593 · 10 mi | 44.7 | 23% | 1.2% | 0.8% |
| Calonne-Ricouart 5,369 · 10.1 mi | 41 | 20% | 0.4% | 1.1% |
| Houdain 6,945 · 10.6 mi | 43.3 | 22% | 0.5% | 0.9% |
| Auchel 10,051 · 10.7 mi | 40 | 20% | 0.5% | 1% |
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-Pol-sur-Ternoise
What is the population of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise?
4,677 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (5,113).
How old are Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise’s residents?
The median age is 47.7, older than 73% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise?
39, with occasional dwellings: 1.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise?
INSEE counts 86 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.8% of residents, and 51 foreign nationals (1.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise?
€20,400 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 28.0% 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.