Insee Première · August 2024 · n° 2008

The new priority neighbourhoods in metropolitan France: an overview

Following the update of the priority neighbourhoods (Quartiers Prioritaires de la politique de la Ville, QPV) on January 1, 2024, there are now 1 362 QPVs in metropolitan France, located in all departments but spread heterogeneously across the territory. Representing 8% of the population, the 5.3 million inhabitants of QPVs differ from the inhabitants of the urban environments surrounding these areas in a number of ways. They are younger: the average age is 35, compared with 41 in urban areas. Households are more often made up of single-parent families (one in six, compared with one in ten in urban environments), while couples without children are less common. The vast majority of households in the QPVs are tenants, most often of social housing, and they are more likely to live in over‑occupied dwellings. Lastly, the residents of these areas, which are by definition more modest than in their urban environment, have a lower level of education, and face greater job insecurity.