Essay

Orne · CC des Sources de l'Orne · INSEE 61156

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

Partly served 40.3/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 82 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Essay (INSEE 61156) is in Orne (61), part of CC des Sources de l'Orne. Population 556 (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/61156-essay

Vitality score

Vitality score 40.3/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 82 % of the 17,459 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	0.32	10	3.16
Public & culture	0.63	5	3.16
Population trend	0.58	10	5.78
Housing mix	0.84	5	4.22

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 1 of 6

Eating out 0 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 1 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 1 of 2

Sport 0 of 2

Everyday services 1 of 3

Lodging 0 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) (AU PETIT FOURNIL). ^[3,4]

1 × Café / bar (LE BAR DU CHATEAU). ^[4]

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

1 × GP (médecin généraliste) (BERNAT VIDAL, MÉDECIN). ^[3]

1 × Post office / agence postale (ESSAY AP). ^[3]

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

1 × Hairdresser. ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 2 × Bakery (boulangerie), 1 × Campsite.

Not found in the commune: Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Restaurant, Nursery school (maternelle), Pharmacy. ^[3,4]

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	1	AU PETIT FOURNIL	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	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Café / bar	1	LE BAR DU CHATEAU	INSEE SIRENE 1 [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)	1	BERNAT VIDAL, MÉDECIN	INSEE BPE 1 [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	1	ESSAY AP	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Library	1	BIBLIOTHÈQUE MUNICIPALE LA ROBICHONNE	INSEE BPE 1 [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		INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [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]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

1968: 523 2023: 556 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 538 (2012) → 556 (2023): 3.3 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 516 (1990) → 556 (2023): 7.8 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 294, of which 7.8 % second homes and 6.1 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Bakery, Primary school, GP Food shop — 2.3 km NEPharmacy — 8.6 km NW 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 (Essay): 0.2 km to the east (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Boitron): 2.3 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Essay): 0.2 km to the west (straight line). ^[8]

Pharmacy (Sées): 8.6 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[10]

Primary school (Essay): 0.1 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 9.2

Days at or below 0 °C 49.5

Muggy days a summer 0.7

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 9 days a year at or above 30 °C and 50 days at or below 0 °C, over 21 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[11]

Measured at the SEES weather station, 7.8 km away at 195 m; the village itself is at 166 m. ^[11]

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

Humidity measured at ALENCON, 14.7 km away at 143 m, over 30 summers. ^[11]

An average of 819 mm of rain a year, spread over 128 days — about 6.4 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at SEES, 7.8 km away at 195 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[11]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 61156/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 61156/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 61156/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 61156/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 61156
INSEE BPE 2025 — 61051
INSEE BPE 2025 — 61464
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
Dolus-le-Sec	37	161 km S	651	42.7	Partly served	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 69 % · winter 96 % · humidity 93 %
Moulézan	30	593 km SE	637	48.1	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 0 % · winter 81 % · humidity 64 %
Haraucourt	08	364 km E	699	37.8	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 78 % · humidity 100 %
Bellencombre	76	148 km NE	564	38.2	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.summer 97 % · winter 82 %
Marville	55	393 km E	522	31.9	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 78 % · humidity 100 %
Vienne-le-Château	51	347 km E	516	30.2	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 85 % · humidity 100 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Bellencombre	76	148 km NE	564	38.2	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.summer 97 % · winter 82 %
Dolus-le-Sec	37	161 km S	651	42.7	Partly served	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 69 % · winter 96 % · humidity 93 %
Vienne-le-Château	51	347 km E	516	30.2	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 85 % · humidity 100 %
Haraucourt	08	364 km E	699	37.8	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 78 % · humidity 100 %
Marville	55	393 km E	522	31.9	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 78 % · humidity 100 %
Moulézan	30	593 km SE	637	48.1	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 0 % · winter 81 % · humidity 64 %

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 Essay'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
Vienne-le-Château	51	347 km E	516	30.2	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 85 % · humidity 100 %
Monchy-Lagache	80	250 km NE	593	32.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 91 % · humidity 100 %
Abancourt	60	169 km NE	569	35.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 93 % · humidity 93 %
Seuil-d'Argonne	55	356 km E	530	41.1	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 92 % · humidity 100 %
Rully	60	197 km NE	757	52.6	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 99 % · humidity 100 %
Ronssoy	80	265 km NE	577	33.4	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 96 % · humidity 100 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/61156-essay