58% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 99% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, one in ten households are single parents; in Vélu, 25%. At the same time, fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than in 94% of compared French towns: 7.8%. This Pas-de-Calais town counted 130 residents and 57 households at the 2023 Census. Census figures put second homes at 5.6% here.
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.
−2% since 2012: slower than 79% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −1% in Pas-de-Calais.
Residents aged 65 and over: 26%, a higher share than 74% 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
■ Vélu 43.8. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Vélu is 43.8, lower than in 51% of compared French towns. On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% 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 lower share of couples with children than 86% of compared French towns, at 17%
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
A household here holds 2.3 people on average. Typically, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. The figure for one-person households is 33% in Vélu and 35% in the typical compared French town.
Vélu ranks below 73% of compared French towns on households without a car: 7%
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. Across the comparison, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. Empty homes account for 8.4%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €23,180 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.
Half of Vélu’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €23,180 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 80% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker: 8.3%, a lower share than 86% 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
Households headed by a manager or professional make up about one in 12 here (8.3%). In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 0% of Vélu’s residents
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.
Immigrants are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Vélu sits below 78% of compared French towns for single residents (22%)
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
For Vélu, the census puts married residents at 42%. Measured more widely, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 83% of compared French towns, at 21%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%; Vélu has 26%. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
The 16th youngest of 41 French towns of 130 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.
Vélu sits below 3 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Vélu
What is the population of Vélu?
130 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (133).
How old are Vélu’s residents?
The median age is 43.8, younger than 51% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vélu?
4, with occasional dwellings: 5.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vélu?
INSEE counts 0 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0% 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 Vélu?
€23,180 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.