Photo: Paul.schrepfer · CC BY 4.0A higher share of households in social housing than 96% of compared French towns, at 35%
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, just over a quarter of households have no car here. 15% of households are couples with children, a lower share than in 90% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 22,395 people lived in Abbeville, in 11,530 households. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 25% in the town.
Throughout this page, the Somme 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 Abbeville
Fewer residents than in 2012
Abbeville had 24,237 residents at the 2012 census and 22,395 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Social housing
35% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 27% rent privately and 37% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
49% of Abbeville’s households are one person: higher than in 92% of compared French towns; 41% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 94% of compared French towns: Abbeville changed by −8% 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 Somme town changed −3% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −5% and the next six −2%.
Older than 70% of compared French towns: half of Abbeville is over 47.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Abbeville 47.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 12%, above 69% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 84 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Somme 52.5%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Abbeville sits above 92% of compared French towns for one-person households (49%)
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 Somme median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 1.9 people in the average household. More single-parent households than in 87% of compared French towns: 13%. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Abbeville ranks above 72% of compared French towns on flats: 48%
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
Car-free households: one in four, where the median compared French town has 11%. Empty homes are more common here than in 70% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in 67: 1.5% of homes are second homes.
A median standard of living of €21,380 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.
Half of residents live in households above €21,380 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 92% of compared French towns. The poverty rate is 25.4%.
Below 85% of compared French towns: 5% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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
Where 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, Abbeville has 36%. As a reference point, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manual worker account for 16%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
2.7% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 85% 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.
In Abbeville, 2.1% of residents are foreign nationals, beside 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 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 30% of residents 15 and over are married in Abbeville
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
Single residents: 33%, above 87% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married.
Abbeville sits above 95% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (32%)
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: 20% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (21,667 to 23,147 people), the 7th 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 Loos (33), the oldest Challans (52.5).
4 in 5 nearby towns have a higher median age than Abbeville
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeville | 47.1 | 25% | 1.5% | 2.7% |
| Flixecourt 3,221 · 12.6 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| Friville-Escarbotin 4,306 · 12.9 mi | 47.5 | 26% | 2.8% | 1.7% |
| Rue 2,987 · 13.6 mi | 53.8 | 35% | 11% | 1.3% |
| Auxi-le-Château 2,547 · 15.1 mi | 50.3 | 31% | 3.5% | 1.4% |
| Blangy-sur-Bresle 2,819 · 15.3 mi | 51.1 | 30% | 1.8% | 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 Abbeville
What is the population of Abbeville?
22,395 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (24,237).
How old are Abbeville’s residents?
The median age is 47.1, older than 70% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Abbeville?
200, with occasional dwellings: 1.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Abbeville?
INSEE counts 600 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.7% of residents, and 460 foreign nationals (2.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Abbeville?
€21,380 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 25.4% 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.