Échallon

Identity

Échallon (INSEE 01152) is in Ain (01), part of CA Haut-Bugey Agglomération. Population 784 (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.

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/01152-echallon

Vitality score

Vitality score 42.2/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 77 % of the 15,755 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 food shop, a school and somewhere to eat or drink. ^[3,4]

2 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette) (AUBERGE EPICERIE DES BOURRIQUES). ^[3,4]

1 × Restaurant. ^[3,4]

1 × Primary school (élémentaire) (RPI ECHALLON-BELLEYDOUX ECOLE DE LA SEMINE). ^[3]

1 × Post office / agence postale (ECHALLON RP). ^[3]

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

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette), 1 × Restaurant.

Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Supermarket, Café / bar, Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy. ^[3,4]

Market and village life

Market day: unknown — nothing found in the datasets or on the commune website.

Trajectory

Population 770 (2012) → 784 (2023): 1.8 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 550 (1990) → 784 (2023): 42.5 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 461, of which 14.3 % second homes and 11.7 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Bakery (Plagne): 2.3 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Champfromier): 6.1 km to the east (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Champfromier): 6.4 km to the east (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Oyonnax): 8.4 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[10]

Primary school (Échallon): 0.3 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[11]

Climate

An average of 7 days a year at or above 30 °C and 72 days at or below 0 °C, over 24 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[12]

Measured at the GIRON weather station, 3.5 km away at 1,009 m; the village itself is at 764 m. ^[12]

The village sits 245 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 0 days a summer. ^[12]

Humidity measured at ARBENT, 9.4 km away at 534 m, over 20 summers. ^[12]

That station sits 230 m below 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 1,658 mm of rain a year, spread over 141 days — about 11.8 mm on a day it rains. ^[12]

Rainfall measured at GIRON, 3.5 km away at 1,009 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 — 01152/2023
2. INSEE density grid 2026
3. INSEE BPE 2025
4. INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
5. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 01152/2012
6. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 01152/1990
7. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 01152/logement/2023
8. INSEE BPE 2025 — 01298
9. INSEE BPE 2025 — 01081
10. INSEE BPE 2025 — 01283
11. INSEE BPE 2025 — 01152
12. Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024