Mézières-sur-Ponthouin

Sarthe · CC Maine Saosnois · INSEE 72196

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

Partly served 43.8/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 82 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Mézières-sur-Ponthouin (INSEE 72196) is in Sarthe (72), part of CC Maine Saosnois. Population 725 (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/72196-mezieres-sur-ponthouin

Vitality score

Vitality score 43.8/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 82 % of the 16,267 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	0.63	20	12.64
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0	10	0
Public & culture	0.32	5	1.58
Population trend	0.71	10	7.12
Housing mix	0.86	5	4.28

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 1 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 food shop, a school and somewhere to eat or drink. ^[3,4]

1 × Bakery (boulangerie). ^[3,4]

1 × Restaurant (A LA TABLE DU PUISARD). ^[3,4]

1 × Café / bar (A L'ASSURANCE CONTRE LA SOIF). ^[4]

1 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE ELEMENTAIRE PUBLIQUE RPI FERNAND VIVET). ^[3]

1 × Post office / agence postale (MEZIERES SUR PONTHOUIN AP). ^[3]

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

Not found in the commune: 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)	1		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 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	1	A LA TABLE DU PUISARD	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Café / bar	1	A L'ASSURANCE CONTRE LA SOIF	INSEE SIRENE 1 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	1	ECOLE ELEMENTAIRE PUBLIQUE RPI FERNAND VIVET	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	MEZIERES SUR PONTHOUIN AP	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 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: 861 2023: 725 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 675 (2012) → 725 (2023): 7.4 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 598 (1990) → 725 (2023): 21.2 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 374, of which 7.2 % second homes and 12.3 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Primary school GP — 5.1 km SWPharmacy — 5.1 km WFood shop — 5.2 km SWBakery — 6.7 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 (Marolles-les-Braults): 6.7 km to the north (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Ballon-Saint Mars): 5.2 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Ballon-Saint Mars): 5.1 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Ballon-Saint Mars): 5.1 km to the west (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Mézières-sur-Ponthouin): 0.1 km to the south (straight line). ^[10]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 16.3

Days at or below 0 °C 49.5

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

Measured at the MAROLLES LES BR weather station, 6.4 km away at 65 m; the village itself is at 77 m. ^[11]

An average of 720 mm of rain a year, spread over 118 days — about 6.1 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at MAROLLES LES BR, 6.4 km away at 65 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 — 72196/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 72196/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 72196/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 72196/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 72189
INSEE BPE 2025 — 72023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 72196
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
Villiers-au-Bouin	37	69 km S	727	42.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 100 % · winter 93 %
Saint-Jean-d'Angle	17	281 km S	699	48.7	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.summer 97 % · winter 62 %
Le Tronquay	14	142 km NW	745	46.2	Partly served	Cooler summers and milder winters.summer 64 % · winter 78 %
Berry-au-Bac	02	296 km NE	722	46.8	Partly served	Cooler summers and colder winters.summer 85 % · winter 84 %
Mouzay	55	387 km NE	651	39	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.summer 92 % · winter 84 %
La Croix-en-Brie	77	210 km E	681	43	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 90 % · winter 97 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Villiers-au-Bouin	37	69 km S	727	42.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 100 % · winter 93 %
Le Tronquay	14	142 km NW	745	46.2	Partly served	Cooler summers and milder winters.summer 64 % · winter 78 %
La Croix-en-Brie	77	210 km E	681	43	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 90 % · winter 97 %
Saint-Jean-d'Angle	17	281 km S	699	48.7	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.summer 97 % · winter 62 %
Berry-au-Bac	02	296 km NE	722	46.8	Partly served	Cooler summers and colder winters.summer 85 % · winter 84 %
Mouzay	55	387 km NE	651	39	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.summer 92 % · winter 84 %

Sort and compare these on the full list →

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/72196-mezieres-sur-ponthouin