Challes

Sarthe · CC du Sud Est Manceau · INSEE 72053

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

Few services 39/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 55 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Challes (INSEE 72053) is in Sarthe (72), part of CC du Sud Est Manceau. Population 1,156 (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/72053-challes

Vitality score

Vitality score 39/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 55 % of the 13,446 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	0.34	25	8.55
Social	0.39	20	7.77
Education	0.39	10	3.93
Health	0	10	0
Public & culture	0.39	5	1.97
Population trend	0.64	10	6.41
Housing mix	0.9	5	4.52

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 2 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 0 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 0 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]

2 × Bakery (boulangerie) (LA POLKA PAINS ET GOURMANDISES). ^[3,4]

1 × Butcher (boucherie). ^[3,4]

3 × Restaurant (PATE A TOUT · BAR RESTAURANT LE CHALLOIS). ^[3,4]

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

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

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

3 × Hairdresser. ^[3,4]

Not found in the commune: Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Café / bar, Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy. ^[3,4]

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	2	LA POLKA PAINS ET GOURMANDISES	INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]
Butcher (boucherie)	1		INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [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	PATE A TOUT · BAR RESTAURANT LE CHALLOIS	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)	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	1	CHALLES RP	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Library	1	BIBLIOTHÈQUE MUNICIPALE	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	3		INSEE BPE 3 / INSEE SIRENE 4 [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

1968: 832 peak 2012: 1,243 2023: 1,156 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 1,243 (2012) → 1,156 (2023): -7 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 1,013 (1990) → 1,156 (2023): 14.1 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 561, of which 4.8 % second homes and 5.7 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Bakery, Primary school Food shop — 3.0 km NEGP — 3.8 km WPharmacy — 4.6 km W 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 (Challes): 0.2 km to the north (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Challes): 3 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[8]

GP (Parigné-l'Évêque): 3.8 km to the west (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Parigné-l'Évêque): 4.6 km to the west (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Challes): 0.2 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 15.4

Days at or below 0 °C 31.9

Muggy days a summer 1.3

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 15 days a year at or above 30 °C and 32 days at or below 0 °C, over 16 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[10]

Measured at the TRESSON_SAPC weather station, 11.9 km away at 154 m; the village itself is at 94 m. ^[10]

The village sits 60 m below the station, so each day's reading was shifted by 5.71 °C per km of altitude before the days were counted. Expect the result to be within about 0.68 °C. ^[10]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 1 day a summer. ^[10]

Humidity measured at LE MANS, 16.5 km away at 51 m, over 30 summers. ^[10]

An average of 737 mm of rain a year, spread over 117 days — about 6.3 mm on a day it rains. ^[10]

Rainfall measured at LE GRAND LUCE, 7.8 km away at 122 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 — 72053/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 72053/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 72053/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 72053/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 72053
INSEE BPE 2025 — 72231
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
Quéménéven	29	338 km W	1,119	29.6	Few services	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 77 % · winter 81 % · humidity 100 %
La Selle-sur-le-Bied	45	185 km E	1,151	38.4	Few services	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 85 % · winter 69 % · humidity 100 %
Sottevast	50	230 km NW	1,459	38.4	Few services	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 64 % · winter 97 % · humidity 100 %
Marçay	86	164 km S	1,107	32.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 89 % · humidity 86 %
Caudecoste	47	425 km S	1,127	38.2	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 31 % · winter 89 % · humidity 57 %
Niederrœdern	67	573 km E	886	52.7	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 85 % · winter 81 % · humidity 86 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Marçay	86	164 km S	1,107	32.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 89 % · humidity 86 %
La Selle-sur-le-Bied	45	185 km E	1,151	38.4	Few services	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 85 % · winter 69 % · humidity 100 %
Sottevast	50	230 km NW	1,459	38.4	Few services	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 64 % · winter 97 % · humidity 100 %
Quéménéven	29	338 km W	1,119	29.6	Few services	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 77 % · winter 81 % · humidity 100 %
Caudecoste	47	425 km S	1,127	38.2	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 31 % · winter 89 % · humidity 57 %
Niederrœdern	67	573 km E	886	52.7	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 85 % · winter 81 % · humidity 86 %

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 Challes'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
Marçay	86	164 km S	1,107	32.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 89 % · humidity 86 %
Boismé	79	144 km SW	1,176	27.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %
Fougeré	85	188 km SW	1,240	35.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %
Le Pin	79	144 km SW	1,091	28	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 92 % · humidity 93 %
Étagnac	16	228 km S	982	40.6	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 89 % · humidity 86 %
Ménil	53	83 km W	923	38.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 86 % · humidity 93 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/72053-challes