Photo: Markus3 (Marc ROUSSEL) · CC BY-SA 3.024% of households have no car, a share 90% of compared French towns don’t reach
The share of households headed by a manual worker is 19%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. In 2023, the Census found 5,751 residents in Doullens, living in 2,650 households. About one in six: that is how common couples with children are in Doullens (18%). Households in social housing are more common here than in nearly three quarters of compared French towns.
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 Doullens
Fewer residents than in 2012
Doullens had 6,643 residents at the 2012 census and 5,751 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 350 homes empty (11%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Doullens’s population moved −13% on 2012, less than in 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
The years 2012 to 2017 brought −8%; 2017 to 2023, −6%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Somme town −3%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 13%, a higher share than 84% 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
■ Doullens 45.7. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (25%), Doullens is above just over two thirds of compared French towns. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. With a median age of 45.7, Doullens is older than 61% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Somme 52.5%, France 51.8%.
13% of households are single parents, more than in 84% 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 Somme median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 2.1 people on average. In the typical compared French town, 10% of households are single parents. Doullens has more one-person households than nearly four fifths of compared French towns, at 43%.
A larger share of empty homes than 86% of compared French towns: 11%
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
In the last two years, 10% of households moved in; at the other end, 17% have stayed 30 years or more. Doullens has more flats than 52% of compared French towns, at 31%. Typically, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Nothing unusual on second homes: 1.9%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
A typical living standard of €20,460 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 €20,460 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 95% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 28.0% of residents.
Doullens sits below 85% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (5.1%)
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
With households headed by a retired person at 38%, Doullens is ahead of 78% of compared French towns on that count. By way of comparison, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 4.1% of residents are immigrants in Doullens
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 about one in 24 here (4.1%). That is lower than in 73% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Somme has 2.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
34% of residents 15 and over are married, below 93% of compared French towns
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, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single; in Doullens, 35%. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Only 16% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Doullens
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
28% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (5,705 to 5,792 people), the 20th 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.
Ages run from 35.2 in Valdahon to 56.7 in Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët.
Nearby, 5 of 6 towns have older populations than Doullens
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doullens | 45.7 | 25% | 1.9% | 4.1% |
| Frévent 3,259 · 8.5 mi | 49 | 27% | 1.7% | 1% |
| Auxi-le-Château 2,547 · 11.3 mi | 50.3 | 31% | 3.5% | 1.4% |
| Flixecourt 3,221 · 15.3 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise 4,677 · 15.3 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 1.5% | 1.8% |
| Ailly-sur-Somme 3,003 · 17.3 mi | 47.3 | 25% | 0.6% | 2.3% |
| Albert 9,521 · 17.4 mi | 46 | 25% | 1.7% | 2.5% |
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 Doullens
What is the population of Doullens?
5,751 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (6,643).
How old are Doullens’ residents?
The median age is 45.7, older than 61% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Doullens?
60, with occasional dwellings: 1.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Doullens?
INSEE counts 230 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.1% of residents, and 240 foreign nationals (4.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Doullens?
€20,460 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 28.0% 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 4, 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.