Photo: Unknown author Unknown author or not provided · Public domainYounger than 85% of compared French towns: half of Vermelles is under 38.7
30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, against 9.4% in Vermelles. This Pas-de-Calais town had 4,729 residents in 1,940 households at the 2023 census. Here, nearly a third of households are couples with children. Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in nearly four fifths 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 Vermelles
A young town
Half of Vermelles’ residents are under 38.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 21% are under 15 and 17% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 51% of compared French towns: Vermelles changed by +5% since 2012
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
Below 80% of compared French towns: 17% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Vermelles 38.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, against 13% in Vermelles. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Only 30% of households are one person living alone in Vermelles
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
Average household size: 2.4 people. The wider picture: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households make up 10%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
In Vermelles, 22% of households rent social housing (HLM), more than in 81% 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 without a car make up 13%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. The census found that 0.4% of homes are second homes in Vermelles.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €22,380 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.
Living standards centre on €22,380 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 86% of compared French towns. One measure of hardship: 18.0% of residents are below the poverty line.
Vermelles ranks above 85% of compared French towns on households headed by a manual worker: 20%
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: 30%, below 61% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 1.2% in Vermelles, less than in 99% of compared French towns
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.
0.5% of residents are foreign nationals; in the typical compared French town the figure is 4.3%. As a yardstick, 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.
Only 23% of residents 15 and over are single in Vermelles
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
The figure for married residents is 41% in Vermelles and 43% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 21% in Vermelles, less than in 82% 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
Set against 19% in the typical compared French town, 23% of adults out of school have no qualification in Vermelles. In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
3rd lowest median age among 41 French towns of 4,685 to 4,773
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 Chasseneuil-du-Poitou (36.3), the youngest, and Salies-de-Béarn (57.6), the oldest.
Median age: 4 of the 6 towns around Vermelles 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermelles | 38.7 | 17% | 0.4% | 1.2% |
| Mazingarbe 8,217 · 1.5 mi | 35.8 | 14% | 0.3% | 1.1% |
| Grenay 6,644 · 2.4 mi | 36.5 | 14% | 0.1% | 1.6% |
| Auchy-les-Mines 4,625 · 2.6 mi | 40.1 | 16% | 0.2% | 1.2% |
| Bully-les-Mines 12,146 · 2.8 mi | 41.3 | 19% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Labourse 2,858 · 2.9 mi | 39.7 | 15% | 0.6% | 2.3% |
| Loos-en-Gohelle 6,799 · 2.9 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 0.2% | 1.6% |
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 Vermelles
What is the population of Vermelles?
4,729 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (4,518).
How old are Vermelles’ residents?
The median age is 38.7, younger than 85% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vermelles?
8, with occasional dwellings: 0.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vermelles?
INSEE counts 55 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.2% of residents, and 25 foreign nationals (0.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vermelles?
€22,380 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% 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.