A median age of 53.8: Rue is older than 92% of compared French towns
Households headed by a manager or professional: 3%, below 97% of compared French towns. Rue counted 2,987 residents and 1,340 households at the 2023 Census. Census figures put flats at 10% here. Lower than in 88% of compared French towns: 7.2% of households are single parents.
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 Rue
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 190 second homes and occasional dwellings in Rue, 11% of its 1,670 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 95% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Rue’s residents are under 53.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 35% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Rue had 3,121 residents at the 2012 census and 2,987 in 2023, down 4%: slower growth than in 86% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More second homes than 89% 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
14% of households have no car (typical compared French town: 11%). In the typical compared French town, the share of second homes is 2.1%. The share of households in social housing stands at 7%. On empty homes, Rue sits higher than 68% of compared French towns: 8.4%.
−4% since 2012: slower than 86% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was −1%; from 2017 to 2023, −4%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Somme town −3%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 35%, a higher share than 94% 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
■ Rue 53.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Lower than in 53% of compared French towns: 10% of residents are 15 to 24. For comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 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.
Below 70% of compared French towns: 21% of households are couples with children
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 2.1 people in the average household. Measured more widely, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. 36% of households are one person living alone, more than in 55% of compared French towns.
A typical living standard of €22,740 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 midpoint of living standards here is €22,740 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 83% of compared French towns. 17.0% of the population lives below the poverty line.
Above 94% of compared French towns: 46% of households are headed by a retired person
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
Here, 13% of households are headed by a manual worker. 3% of Rue’s households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 46% by a retired person (32%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Rue, 1.3% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 98% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Rue comes in at 0.9%. 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.
Rue ranks below 85% of compared French towns on married residents: 37%
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 make up 23%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married.
16% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 95% 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
In the typical compared French town, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification; in Rue, 31%. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 8th oldest of 41 French towns of 2,955 to 3,020 people
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 40.5 in Gorcy to 63.8 in Agon-Coutainville.
Rue sits below 1 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rue | 53.8 | 35% | 11% | 1.3% |
| Verton 2,571 · 8.9 mi | 47.1 | 23% | 13% | 1.5% |
| Berck 12,951 · 10.3 mi | 53.5 | 32% | 40% | 2.7% |
| Rang-du-Fliers 4,297 · 10.3 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 7.5% | 2.6% |
| Merlimont 3,342 · 13.1 mi | 54.8 | 34% | 67% | 2% |
| Abbeville 22,395 · 13.6 mi | 47.1 | 25% | 1.5% | 2.7% |
| Friville-Escarbotin 4,306 · 14.1 mi | 47.5 | 26% | 2.8% | 1.7% |
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 Rue
What is the population of Rue?
2,987 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (3,121).
How old are Rue’s residents?
The median age is 53.8, older than 92% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 35% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Rue?
190, with occasional dwellings: 11% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Rue?
INSEE counts 40 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.3% of residents, and 28 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Rue?
€22,740 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 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.