A smaller share of one-person households than 99% of compared French towns: 17%
In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%; Sempy has 26%. The town has more second homes than nearly four fifths of compared French towns, at 5.6%. At the 2023 Census, 324 people lived here, in 120 households. For Sempy, the census puts households without a car at 6.7%.
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 Sempy
A town of families
35% of households are couples with children and 13% single parents with children; 23% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of +3% since 2012 leaves Sempy behind 57% 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 +4%; from 2017 to 2023, ±0%.
Half of Sempy is under 39.6, younger than 81% 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
■ Sempy 39.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 20%, against 22% in the typical compared French town. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 9.7%.
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%.
35% of households are couples with children, more 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 average household has 2.7 people. In the typical compared French town, a quarter of households are couples with children. Compared with other places, single-parent households are common here: 13%, more than in 87% of compared French towns.
Empty homes make up 5.6% in Sempy, less than in 66% 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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Just over a fifth of households have been in place 30 years or more; 3.3% moved in within the last two years. For comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Car-free households: one in 15, where the median compared French town has 11%.
The median resident lives on €23,120 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €23,120 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 81% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person make up 17% in Sempy, less than in 98% 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
4.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional; in the typical compared French town the figure is 9.4%. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person is 32%.
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: 0.9%
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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Sempy comes in at 0.9%. 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.
A lower share of single residents than 59% of compared French towns, at 24%
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
Married residents account for 43%. Against that, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
21% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 84% 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 Sempy comes in at 21%. Typically, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 2nd youngest of 41 French towns of 324 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Sempy sits below 5 of its 6 closest neighbors on 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sempy | 39.6 | 20% | 5.6% | 0.9% |
| Étaples 10,710 · 10.5 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 7% | 1.3% |
| Hesdin-la-Forêt 4,480 · 10.9 mi | 52.1 | 33% | 3.5% | 2.4% |
| Samer 4,704 · 11.4 mi | 37.7 | 16% | 1% | 0.6% |
| Cucq 5,129 · 11.7 mi | 56.1 | 35% | 59% | 1.7% |
| Rang-du-Fliers 4,297 · 11.9 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 7.5% | 2.6% |
| Verton 2,571 · 12 mi | 47.1 | 23% | 13% | 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 Sempy
What is the population of Sempy?
324 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (314).
How old are Sempy’s residents?
The median age is 39.6, younger than 81% of compared French towns. 27% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sempy?
8, with occasional dwellings: 5.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sempy?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.9% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sempy?
€23,120 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.