Wissant sits above 99% of compared French towns for second homes (71%)
With households headed by a retired person at 50%, Wissant is ahead of 97% of compared French towns on that count. The town is home to 835 residents in 410 households, by the 2023 Census. 4.8% of households are single parents, or about one in 21. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 84% 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 Wissant
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 1,110 second homes and occasional dwellings in Wissant, 71% of its 1,550 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 69% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Wissant had 1,033 residents at the 2012 census and 835 in 2023, down 19%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Wissant’s residents are under 55.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Empty homes: 2.1%, a lower share than 98% 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
Just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town, against 13% in Wissant. The wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. In Wissant, 26% of homes are flats.
Slower than most: −19% since 2012, behind 99% 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 whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Pas-de-Calais town −1%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought −9%; 2017 to 2023, −11%.
A median age of 55.7: Wissant is older than 95% 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
■ Wissant 55.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Wissant has 34%.
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%.
Fewer couples with children than 73% of compared French towns: 20%
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 people. For comparison, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Against a figure of 35% in the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households in Wissant comes in at 36%.
At the median, €27,240 a year to live on
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 median standard of living in Wissant is €27,240 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 63% of compared French towns.
Wissant sits below 89% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (7.5%)
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 10%. 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: 2%, a lower share than 92% 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.
4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, against 1.6% in Wissant. The median compared commune in Pas-de-Calais has 1.7%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 92% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 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.
Wissant ranks above 68% of compared French towns on married residents: 45%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%; Wissant has 24%. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
Wissant ranks above 64% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 34%
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 Wissant, 18% of adults out of school have no qualification. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 5th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Every neighbor is younger than Wissant
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 Wissant
What is the population of Wissant?
835 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 19% fewer than in 2012 (1,033).
How old are Wissant’s residents?
The median age is 55.7, older than 95% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Wissant?
1,110, with occasional dwellings: 71% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Wissant?
INSEE counts 16 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2% of residents, and 13 foreign nationals (1.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Wissant?
€27,240 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.