Photo: Bärbel Miemietz · CC BY-SA 4.0Older than 95% of compared French towns: half of Forges-les-Eaux is over 55.9
By its share of couples with children (13%), Forges-les-Eaux is below 96% of compared French towns. Across Forges-les-Eaux, just over a fifth of households have no car. Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than in 97% of compared French towns: 3.2%. This Seine-Maritime town had 3,642 residents in 1,890 households at the 2023 census.
Throughout this page, the Seine-Maritime 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 Forges-les-Eaux
An older town
Half of Forges-les-Eaux’s residents are under 55.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 36% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 15% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Forges-les-Eaux had 3,997 residents at the 2012 census and 3,642 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
48% of Forges-les-Eaux’s households are one person: higher than in 90% of compared French towns; 37% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 96% of compared French towns: Forges-les-Eaux changed by −9% 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
The median Seine-Maritime town changed ±0% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −5% and the next six −4%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 36%, a higher share 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
■ Forges-les-Eaux 55.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in Forges-les-Eaux. Elsewhere, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 83 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Seine-Maritime 52.8%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
48% of households are one person living alone, more than in 90% 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 Seine-Maritime median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 1.8 people each. In the typical compared French town, 35% of households are one person living alone. More single-parent households than in 62% of compared French towns: 11%.
8.8% of homes stand empty, more than in 71% 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
13% of households moved in less than two years ago; 17% have been in their home 30 years or more. For comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. More households in social housing than in 64% of compared French towns: 16%. There is little gap on second homes: 2.7%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €22,710 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.
The median standard of living in Forges-les-Eaux is €22,710 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 84% of compared French towns. 17.0% of residents live below the poverty line INSEE uses.
48% of households are headed by a retired person, a share 95% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 manual worker: 13% of the total. 3.2% of Forges-les-Eaux’s households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 48% by a retired person (32%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 2.1%, a lower share than 90% 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.
Foreign nationals make up 1.1%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 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.
A lower share of married residents than 82% of compared French towns, at 38%
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
Here, just over a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
36% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 99% 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
Graduates of higher education make up 17%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (3,615 to 3,669 people), the 4th oldest
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 Lizy-sur-Ourcq (37.6), the oldest Plestin-les-Grèves (61.5).
Every neighbor is younger than Forges-les-Eaux
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forges-les-Eaux | 55.9 | 36% | 2.7% | 2.1% |
| Buchy 2,815 · 8.8 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 1.8% | 0.9% |
| Neufchâtel-en-Bray 4,662 · 9.7 mi | 51.7 | 34% | 1.3% | 1.2% |
| Gournay-en-Bray 5,723 · 11.8 mi | 51.9 | 31% | 1.4% | 4.4% |
| Quincampoix 3,103 · 17.6 mi | 49.7 | 24% | 0.5% | 2% |
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 Forges-les-Eaux
What is the population of Forges-les-Eaux?
3,642 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (3,997).
How old are Forges-les-Eaux’s residents?
The median age is 55.9, older than 95% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Forges-les-Eaux?
58, with occasional dwellings: 2.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Forges-les-Eaux?
INSEE counts 78 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.1% of residents, and 40 foreign nationals (1.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Forges-les-Eaux?
€22,710 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 17.0% 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.