Gamaches is older than 92% of compared French towns: a median age of 53.9
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 2.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Gamaches. In 2023, the Census found 2,397 residents locally, living in 1,190 households. Second homes: 4.6% of the total. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 41%, more 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 Gamaches
Fewer residents than in 2012
Gamaches had 2,730 residents at the 2012 census and 2,397 in 2023, down 12%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Gamaches’ residents are under 53.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 160 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.
Gamaches’s population moved −12% on 2012, less than in 98% 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 change was −7% from 2012 to 2017 and −6% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Somme town −3%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 87% of compared French towns: 31%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Gamaches 53.9. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%; Gamaches has 9.1%. Against that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 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.
Gamaches ranks below 81% of compared French towns on couples with children: 18%
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
Average household size: 2 people. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%. Gamaches has fewer single-parent households than 62% of compared French towns, at 9.3%.
More 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
Long tenure is the mark of 25% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 8.1% (under two years). The share of empty homes in the typical compared French town is 6.7%. More households without a car than in just over four fifths of compared French towns: 20%. Where just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, Gamaches has 17%.
A median standard of living of €20,970 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.
At €20,970 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 94% of compared French towns. Some 23.0% of residents fall below the poverty line.
In Gamaches, 48% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 96% of compared French towns
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
22% of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. To put it in context, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 97% of compared French towns: 1.4% of residents are immigrants
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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 1.1% of residents are foreign nationals here. For comparison, 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.
Married residents make up 38% in Gamaches, less than in 81% 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
Single residents are rarer here than in 55% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 11%, a lower share than 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
Adults with no qualification make up 39%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
41 French towns of 2,397 to 2,582 people: this is 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Median age: 3 of the 6 towns around Gamaches 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamaches | 53.9 | 31% | 4.6% | 1.4% |
| Blangy-sur-Bresle 2,819 · 4.9 mi | 51.1 | 30% | 1.8% | 2% |
| Friville-Escarbotin 4,306 · 6.7 mi | 47.5 | 26% | 2.8% | 1.7% |
| Eu 6,499 · 7.5 mi | 55.2 | 35% | 5.9% | 2.8% |
| Mers-les-Bains 2,540 · 9.1 mi | 58.3 | 38% | 50% | 1.7% |
| Le Tréport 4,378 · 9.5 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 37% | 1.8% |
| Criel-sur-Mer 2,527 · 10.9 mi | 54.9 | 33% | 44% | 2.6% |
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 Gamaches
What is the population of Gamaches?
2,397 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% fewer than in 2012 (2,730).
How old are Gamaches’ residents?
The median age is 53.9, older than 92% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gamaches?
65, with occasional dwellings: 4.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gamaches?
INSEE counts 34 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.4% of residents, and 27 foreign nationals (1.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gamaches?
€20,970 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 23.0% 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.