Brens

Identity

Brens (INSEE 01061) is in Ain (01), part of CC Bugey Sud. Population 1,123 (2023). ^[1]

INSEE density class: Rural à habitat dispersé (level 6). ^[2]

Data vintages: INSEE BPE 2025 · INSEE SIRENE 2026-09 · INSEE census (RP) 2023 · INSEE COG 2026 · INSEE density grid 2026 · DATAtourisme 2026-10-22.

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/01061-brens

Vitality score

Vitality score 27.3/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 20 % of the 13,635 communes of a similar size.

Compare this with communes of a similar size. The score measures how well a place is served relative to its own size band, and larger communes score higher as a rule — so it reads meaningfully against another village, and misleadingly against a town.

Measured but not scored in this model: Market. See the methodology for why.

Services

A school and somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop. ^[3,4]

1 × Café / bar. ^[4]

1 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE). ^[3]

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE MUNICIPALE DE BRENS). ^[3]

3 × Hairdresser (R BY MARINA · SO CHIC). ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Bakery (boulangerie), 1 × Hairdresser.

Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Restaurant, Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy, Post office / agence postale. ^[3,4]

Market and village life

A market is recorded here, but no source gives the day. ^[5]

Trajectory

Population 1,215 (2012) → 1,123 (2023): -7.6 % over 10 years. ^[6,1]

Population 638 (1990) → 1,123 (2023): 76 % over 30 years. ^[7,1]

Dwellings (2023): 541, of which 6.5 % second homes and 4.3 % vacant. ^[8]

Access and surroundings

Bakery (Virignin): 1.3 km to the east (straight line). ^[9]

Food shop (Belley): 4.4 km to the north (straight line). ^[10]

GP (Belley): 3.3 km to the north (straight line). ^[10]

Pharmacy (Belley): 4.5 km to the north (straight line). ^[10]

Primary school (Brens): 0.1 km to the east (straight line). ^[11]

Climate

An average of 34 days a year at or above 30 °C and 47 days at or below 0 °C, over 23 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[12]

Measured at the BELLEY weather station, 5.7 km away at 330 m; the village itself is at 244 m. ^[12]

The village sits 86 m below the station, so each day's reading was shifted by 6.06 °C per km of altitude before the days were counted. Expect the result to be within about 0.68 °C. ^[12]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 3 days a summer. ^[12]

Humidity measured at BELLEY, 5.7 km away at 330 m, over 23 summers. ^[12]

That station sits 86 m above the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 3.69 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. ^[12]

An average of 1,135 mm of rain a year, spread over 112 days — about 10.1 mm on a day it rains. ^[12]

Rainfall measured at BELLEY MAN, 4.2 km away at 286 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[12]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

1. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 01061/2023
2. INSEE density grid 2026
3. INSEE BPE 2025
4. INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
5. DATAtourisme 2026-09— https://data.datatourisme.fr/13/74815df7-3119-3c81-afcb-dd5eb84f00b8— “Marché de producteurs à la Ferme du Petit Brens”(unverified)
6. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 01061/2012
7. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 01061/1990
8. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 01061/logement/2023
9. INSEE BPE 2025 — 01454
10. INSEE BPE 2025 — 01034
11. INSEE BPE 2025 — 01061
12. Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024