Rennes-le-Château
Somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop and no school.
No daily shops 19/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 83 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.
Identity
Rennes-le-Château (INSEE 11309) is in Aude (11), part of CC du Limouxin. Population 89 (2023). [1]
INSEE density class: Rural à habitat très dispersé (level 7). [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/11309-rennes-le-chateau
Vitality score
Vitality score 19/100 — No daily shops (model fr-v0.2).
Confidence: high.
Better served than 83 % of the 9,442 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.
| Component | Value (0–1) | Weight | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily food | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| Social | 0.48 | 20 | 9.5 |
| Education | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Health | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Public & culture | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Population trend | 0.51 | 10 | 5.11 |
| Housing mix | 0.31 | 5 | 1.57 |
Services
What is here, at a glance
Somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop and no school. [3,4]
3 × Restaurant (LE JARDIN DE MARIE · L'ESCONDIDA · LE BISTRO DES AMIS). [3,4]
Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Restaurant.
Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Café / bar, Nursery school (maternelle), Primary school (élémentaire), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy, Post office / agence postale, Library. [3,4]
All 25 service types, with per-source counts
| Type | Count | Names | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bakery (boulangerie) | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4] | |
| Butcher (boucherie) | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4] | |
| Grocery (épicerie / supérette) | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4] | |
| Supermarket | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4] | |
| Cheese shop (fromagerie) | 0 | INSEE SIRENE 0 [4] | |
| Fishmonger | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4] | |
| Restaurant | 3 | LE JARDIN DE MARIE · L'ESCONDIDA · LE BISTRO DES AMIS | INSEE BPE 3 / INSEE SIRENE 4 [3,4] |
| Café / bar | 0 | INSEE SIRENE 0 [4] | |
| Nursery school (maternelle) | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Primary school (élémentaire) | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Collège | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| GP (médecin généraliste) | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Pharmacy | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4] | |
| Nurse | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Dentist | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Post office / agence postale | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Library | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Cinema | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Gym / sports hall | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Swimming pool | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Bank | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Hairdresser | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4] | |
| Fuel station | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4] | |
| Hotel | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4] | |
| Campsite | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4] |
Market and village life
Market day: unknown — nothing found in the datasets or on the commune website.
Trajectory
Population 60 (2012) → 89 (2023): 48.3 % over 10 years. [5,1]
Population 88 (1990) → 89 (2023): 1.1 % over 30 years. [6,1]
Dwellings (2023): 70, of which 34.3 % second homes and 1.4 % vacant. [7]
Access and surroundings
Which way the everyday services lie
Bakery (Couiza): 1.8 km to the north-west (straight line). [8]
Food shop (Couiza): 1.7 km to the north-west (straight line). [8]
GP (Couiza): 1.8 km to the north-west (straight line). [8]
Pharmacy (Couiza): 1.8 km to the north-west (straight line). [8]
Primary school (Couiza): 1.6 km to the north-west (straight line). [8]
Climate
Where this sits nationally
An average of 26 days a year at or above 30 °C and 33 days at or below 0 °C, over 30 complete years in 1995–2024. [9]
Measured at the GRANES weather station, 2.3 km away at 420 m; the village itself is at 510 m. [9]
The village sits 90 m above the station, so each day's reading was shifted by 5.7 °C per km of altitude before the days were counted. Expect the result to be within about 0.68 °C. [9]
Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 2 days a summer. [9]
Humidity measured at GRANES, 2.3 km away at 420 m, over 25 summers. [9]
That station sits 90 m below the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 3.26 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. [9]
An average of 702 mm of rain a year, spread over 95 days — about 7.4 mm on a day it rains. [9]
Rainfall measured at GRANES, 2.3 km away at 420 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. [9]
Uncertainties
No specific uncertainties flagged.
References
- INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 11309/2023
- INSEE density grid 2026
- INSEE BPE 2025
- INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
- INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 11309/2012
- INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 11309/1990
- INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 11309/logement/2023
- INSEE BPE 2025 — 11103
- Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024
Villages like this one
Matched on size, density, second homes and which everyday shops and services are present — not on the score, so a village of the same kind that is doing better or worse shows up rather than being hidden.
| Commune | Dept | Distance | Population | Score | Band | Climate vs here |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paulhac-en-Margeride | 48 | 242 km N | 87 | 11.6 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and colder winters.summer 46 % · winter 0 % |
| Saint-Salvi-de-Carcavès | 81 | 101 km N | 84 | 13 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 69 % · winter 62 % · humidity 93 % |
| Mazoires | 63 | 281 km N | 97 | 11.3 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 49 % · winter 39 % · humidity 86 % |
| Englesqueville-la-Percée | 14 | 759 km N | 92 | 11.7 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 38 % · winter 81 % · humidity 100 % |
| Laroche-près-Feyt | 19 | 310 km N | 80 | 12.1 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 54 % · winter 0 % · humidity 86 % |
| Rosureux | 25 | 590 km NE | 79 | 12.3 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 74 % · winter 35 % · humidity 86 % |
Order by distance instead
| Commune | Dept | Distance | Population | Score | Band | Climate vs here |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Salvi-de-Carcavès | 81 | 101 km N | 84 | 13 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 69 % · winter 62 % · humidity 93 % |
| Paulhac-en-Margeride | 48 | 242 km N | 87 | 11.6 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and colder winters.summer 46 % · winter 0 % |
| Mazoires | 63 | 281 km N | 97 | 11.3 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 49 % · winter 39 % · humidity 86 % |
| Laroche-près-Feyt | 19 | 310 km N | 80 | 12.1 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 54 % · winter 0 % · humidity 86 % |
| Rosureux | 25 | 590 km NE | 79 | 12.3 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 74 % · winter 35 % · humidity 86 % |
| Englesqueville-la-Percée | 14 | 759 km N | 92 | 11.7 | No daily shops | Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 38 % · winter 81 % · humidity 100 % |
Sort and compare these on the full list →
…and in much the same climate
The same match on size and services, narrowed to communes whose summers, winters and summer humidity are all close to Rennes-le-Château's. All three are required, so this section is absent for the 11.8 % of communes with no humidity station near enough to measure: two temperature axes alone cannot tell a muggy coast from a dry one.
| Commune | Dept | Distance | Population | Score | Band | Climate vs here |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courris | 81 | 115 km N | 80 | 14.5 | No daily shops | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 86 % · humidity 93 % |
| Quissac-en-Quercy | 46 | 196 km N | 107 | 18 | No daily shops | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 92 % · humidity 100 % |
| Romazières | 17 | 392 km NW | 90 | 15.1 | No daily shops | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 85 % · humidity 86 % |
| Grimault | 89 | 542 km N | 115 | 14.2 | No daily shops | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 93 % · humidity 86 % |
| Cladech | 24 | 231 km NW | 86 | 8.3 | No daily shops | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 100 % · humidity 86 % |
| Sainte-Vertu | 89 | 552 km N | 66 | 14.6 | No daily shops | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 97 % · humidity 86 % |
Elsewhere
Commune website · Wikipedia (en) ·Wikipedia (fr) · INSEE dossier complet · OpenStreetMap · Web search · Map
Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/11309-rennes-le-chateau