Les Salles

Identity

Les Salles (INSEE 42295) is in Loire (42), part of CC du Pays d'Urfé. Population 558 (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/42295-les-salles

Vitality score

Vitality score 51.6/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 94 % of the 17,427 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]

1 × Bakery (boulangerie) (LES 2 L). ^[3,4]

1 × Butcher (boucherie). ^[3,4]

1 × Restaurant (ARCHE DU HAUT FOREZ). ^[3,4]

2 × Café / bar (BAR L'ATELIER). ^[4]

1 × Nursery school (maternelle) (ECOLE MATERNELLE ROUTE DE L'ETRAT). ^[3]

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE - LES SALLES). ^[3]

1 × Hairdresser (LE SALON CAROLL). ^[3,4]

2 × Fuel station (STATION SERVICE). ^[3,4]

1 × Hotel (DOMAINE DE LA PLAGNETTE). ^[3,4]

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

Not found in the commune: Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Primary school (élémentaire), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy, Post office / agence postale. ^[3,4]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

Population 502 (2012) → 558 (2023): 11.2 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 441 (1990) → 558 (2023): 26.5 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 332, of which 22.3 % second homes and 8.4 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Bakery (Les Salles): 0.1 km to the south (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Noirétable): 3.6 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Noirétable): 4.2 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Chabreloche): 8.1 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[10]

Primary school (Les Salles): 0.3 km to the south (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

An average of 13 days a year at or above 30 °C and 107 days at or below 0 °C, over 30 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[11]

Measured at the ST-JUST-EN-CHEV weather station, 7.8 km away at 612 m; the village itself is at 680 m. ^[11]

The village sits 68 m above 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. ^[11]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 1 day a summer. ^[11]

Humidity measured at ST-JUST-EN-CHEV, 7.8 km away at 612 m, over 10 summers. ^[11]

That station sits 68 m below the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 3.69 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. ^[11]

An average of 1,202 mm of rain a year, spread over 131 days — about 9.2 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at NOIRETABLE, 4.7 km away at 714 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[11]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

1. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42295/2023
2. INSEE density grid 2026
3. INSEE BPE 2025
4. INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
5. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42295/2012
6. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42295/1990
7. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42295/logement/2023
8. INSEE BPE 2025 — 42295
9. INSEE BPE 2025 — 42159
10. INSEE BPE 2025 — 63072
11. Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024