L'Épine

Marne · CA de Châlons-en-Champagne · INSEE 51231

A food shop, a school and somewhere to eat or drink.

Few services 33.8/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 60 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

L'Épine (INSEE 51231) is in Marne (51), part of CA de Châlons-en-Champagne. Population 685 (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/51231-l-epine

Vitality score

Vitality score 33.8/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 60 % of the 16,487 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	0.21	25	5.27
Social	0.32	20	6.32
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0	10	0
Public & culture	0	5	0
Population trend	0.59	10	5.86
Housing mix	0.99	5	4.93

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 1 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 0 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 0 of 4

Public services 0 of 1

Culture 0 of 2

Sport 0 of 2

Everyday services 1 of 3

Lodging 1 of 2

One square per service type, shaded by how many: none, one, a few, five or more. A blank square means none was counted — the sources do not distinguish “none here” from “not counted”.

A food shop, a school and somewhere to eat or drink. ^[3,4]

1 × Bakery (boulangerie). ^[3,4]

1 × Restaurant (AUX ARMES DE CHAMPAGNE). ^[3]

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

1 × Hairdresser (LA COIFFEUSE DE L'EPINE). ^[3,4]

1 × Hotel (AUX ARMES DE CHAMPAGNE). ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Restaurant.

Not found in the commune: Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Café / bar, Nursery school (maternelle), 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)	1		INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [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	1	AUX ARMES DE CHAMPAGNE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Café / bar	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	1	ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE	INSEE BPE 1 [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	1	LA COIFFEUSE DE L'EPINE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Fuel station	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Hotel	1	AUX ARMES DE CHAMPAGNE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [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

1968: 291 2023: 685 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 593 (2012) → 685 (2023): 15.5 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 631 (1990) → 685 (2023): 8.6 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 303, of which 0.7 % second homes and 3.3 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Bakery, Primary school Food shop — 2.7 km NEPharmacy — 2.8 km NEGP — 3.7 km E Straight-line, from the mairie, in the direction given. Services in the same town share a spoke. Distance is not travel time: a pass or an estuary can double it.

Bakery (L'Épine): 0 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Courtisols): 2.7 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Courtisols): 3.7 km to the east (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Courtisols): 2.8 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (L'Épine): 0 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 12.9

Days at or below 0 °C 65.4

Muggy days a summer 1.7

Each track runs from the 5th to the 95th percentile of the 34,141 communes with that measurement; the tick is the median. A value beyond either end sits at the end and is marked ▸.

An average of 13 days a year at or above 30 °C and 65 days at or below 0 °C, over 24 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[10]

Measured at the SOMME-VESLE weather station, 9.3 km away at 162 m; the village itself is at 152 m. ^[10]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 2 days a summer. ^[10]

Humidity measured at FAGNIERES-INRAE, 12.5 km away at 105 m, over 30 summers. ^[10]

An average of 786 mm of rain a year, spread over 124 days — about 6.3 mm on a day it rains. ^[10]

Rainfall measured at SOMME-VESLE, 9.3 km away at 162 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[10]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 51231/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 51231/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 51231/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 51231/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 51231
INSEE BPE 2025 — 51193
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
Montceaux-lès-Meaux	77	108 km W	669	35.6	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 77 % · humidity 93 %
La Ferrière-Bochard	61	336 km W	709	35.3	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 70 % · humidity 93 %
Porcheux	60	189 km W	677	41	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 78 % · humidity 93 %
Caubios-Loos	64	723 km SW	683	38.2	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 79 % · winter 49 % · humidity 21 %
Saint-Maximin	38	412 km S	689	37.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.summer 87 % · winter 85 %
La Baffe	88	180 km SE	631	38.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 96 % · humidity 86 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Montceaux-lès-Meaux	77	108 km W	669	35.6	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 77 % · humidity 93 %
La Baffe	88	180 km SE	631	38.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 96 % · humidity 86 %
Porcheux	60	189 km W	677	41	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 78 % · humidity 93 %
La Ferrière-Bochard	61	336 km W	709	35.3	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 70 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Maximin	38	412 km S	689	37.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.summer 87 % · winter 85 %
Caubios-Loos	64	723 km SW	683	38.2	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 79 % · winter 49 % · humidity 21 %

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 L'Épine'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
La Baffe	88	180 km SE	631	38.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 96 % · humidity 86 %
Chagey	70	226 km SE	596	32.2	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %
Ceffonds	52	60 km S	665	36.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %
Thiaville-sur-Meurthe	54	183 km E	597	32.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 86 % · humidity 93 %
Waldhambach	67	201 km E	598	34.2	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 86 % · humidity 93 %
Blacourt	60	197 km W	592	41.1	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %

Elsewhere

Commune website · Wikipedia (en) ·Wikipedia (fr) · INSEE dossier complet · OpenStreetMap · Web search · Map

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/51231-l-epine