Chenu

Sarthe · CC Sud Sarthe · INSEE 72077

A school and somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop.

Few services 38.2/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 83 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Chenu (INSEE 72077) is in Sarthe (72), part of CC Sud Sarthe. Population 421 (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/72077-chenu

Vitality score

Vitality score 38.2/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 83 % of the 17,948 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	0.86	20	17.29
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0	10	0
Public & culture	0.32	5	1.58
Population trend	0.39	10	3.92
Housing mix	0.67	5	3.34

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 0 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 0 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 0 of 2

Sport 0 of 2

Everyday services 0 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 school and somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop. ^[3,4]

2 × Restaurant (LES PROVINCES). ^[3,4]

2 × Café / bar. ^[4]

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

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

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, Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy, 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	2	LES PROVINCES	INSEE SIRENE 2 / INSEE BPE 0 [3,4]
Café / bar	2		INSEE SIRENE 2 [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	CHENU RP	INSEE BPE 1 [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 SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [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: 703 2023: 421 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 415 (2012) → 421 (2023): 1.4 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 472 (1990) → 421 (2023): -10.8 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 301, of which 16.6 % second homes and 18.6 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Primary school Bakery — 4.8 km SWFood shop — 6.4 km NGP — 6.4 km NPharmacy — 6.4 km N 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 (Villiers-au-Bouin): 4.8 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Vaas): 6.4 km to the north (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Vaas): 6.4 km to the north (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Vaas): 6.4 km to the north (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Chenu): 0 km to the west (straight line). ^[10]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 16.8

Days at or below 0 °C 46.4

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 17 days a year at or above 30 °C and 46 days at or below 0 °C, over 18 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[11]

Measured at the LE LUDE weather station, 15 km away at 58 m; the village itself is at 78 m. ^[11]

An average of 729 mm of rain a year, spread over 116 days — about 6.3 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at MONTABON, 8.6 km away at 49 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 — 72077/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 72077/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 72077/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 72077/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 37279
INSEE BPE 2025 — 72364
INSEE BPE 2025 — 72077
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
Sarlande	24	248 km S	428	32.3	Few services	Much the same temperatures.summer 90 % · winter 88 %
Saint-Aubin	47	351 km S	393	37.3	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.summer 56 % · winter 86 %
Concèze	19	263 km S	376	36.6	Few services	Much the same temperatures.summer 100 % · winter 92 %
Azy	18	185 km E	450	35.9	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.summer 90 % · winter 82 %
Saint-Plaisir	03	227 km SE	422	37	Few services	Much the same temperatures.summer 90 % · winter 95 %
Verneil-le-Chétif	72	14 km N	584	40.8	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 92 % · winter 89 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Verneil-le-Chétif	72	14 km N	584	40.8	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 92 % · winter 89 %
Azy	18	185 km E	450	35.9	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.summer 90 % · winter 82 %
Saint-Plaisir	03	227 km SE	422	37	Few services	Much the same temperatures.summer 90 % · winter 95 %
Sarlande	24	248 km S	428	32.3	Few services	Much the same temperatures.summer 90 % · winter 88 %
Concèze	19	263 km S	376	36.6	Few services	Much the same temperatures.summer 100 % · winter 92 %
Saint-Aubin	47	351 km S	393	37.3	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.summer 56 % · winter 86 %

Sort and compare these on the full list →

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/72077-chenu