Le Donjon

Allier · CC Entr'Allier Besbre et Loire · INSEE 03103

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

Partly served 48.2/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 81 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Le Donjon (INSEE 03103) is in Allier (03), part of CC Entr'Allier Besbre et Loire. Population 1,007 (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 · Commune website 2026-10-24 · DATAtourisme 2026-10-22.

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/03103-le-donjon

Vitality score

Vitality score 48.2/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 81 % of the 14,292 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	0.6	25	15.02
Social	0.39	20	7.87
Education	0.39	10	3.93
Health	0.51	10	5.13
Public & culture	0.39	5	1.97
Population trend	0.3	10	3
Housing mix	0.81	5	4.06

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 3 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 2 of 3

Health 2 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 1 of 2

Sport 1 of 2

Everyday services 3 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]

3 × Bakery (boulangerie). ^[3,4]

1 × Butcher (boucherie) (BOUCHERIE XAVIER). ^[3,4]

2 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette) (SPAR · PROXIMARCHE). ^[3,4]

1 × Restaurant (AZROU KEB). ^[3,4]

1 × Café / bar. ^[4]

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

1 × Collège (COLLEGE VICTOR HUGO). ^[3]

2 × GP (médecin généraliste) (AUDREY THOMAS, MÉDECIN · MARIA LORINCZ, MÉDECIN). ^[3]

1 × Pharmacy (PHARMACIE DU PARC). ^[3,4]

1 × Post office / agence postale (LA POSTE). ^[3]

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE COMMUNAUTAIRE DU DONJON). ^[3]

2 × Gym / sports hall (PLATEAU SPORTIF DU COLLEGE VICTOR HUGO · SALLE GILBERT LAFORET). ^[3]

3 × Bank (CAISSE D'EPARGNE ET DE PREVOYANCE D'AUVERGNE ET DU LIMOUSIN · CAISSE LOCALE DE LE DONJON · CAISSE REG CREDIT AGRIC MUT CTRE FRANCE). ^[3]

4 × Hairdresser (J & G BARBE & COIFFURES · COIFFURE VERONIQUE · BIGOUDI ET CIE · ILLUMIN'HAIR). ^[3,4]

1 × Fuel station (STATION SERVICE). ^[3,4]

1 × Campsite (CAMPING MUNICIPAL DE LE DONJON). ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette), 1 × Hotel.

Not found in the commune: Supermarket, Nursery school (maternelle). ^[3,4]

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	3		INSEE BPE 3 / INSEE SIRENE 4 [3,4]
Butcher (boucherie)	1	BOUCHERIE XAVIER	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Grocery (épicerie / supérette)	2	SPAR · PROXIMARCHE	INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [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	AZROU KEB	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Café / bar	1		INSEE SIRENE 1 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	1	ECOLE PRIMAIRE MARLENE JOBERT	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Collège	1	COLLEGE VICTOR HUGO	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
GP (médecin généraliste)	2	AUDREY THOMAS, MÉDECIN · MARIA LORINCZ, MÉDECIN	INSEE BPE 2 [3]
Pharmacy	1	PHARMACIE DU PARC	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]
Nurse	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Dentist	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Post office / agence postale	1	LA POSTE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Library	1	BIBLIOTHÈQUE COMMUNAUTAIRE DU DONJON	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Cinema	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Gym / sports hall	2	PLATEAU SPORTIF DU COLLEGE VICTOR HUGO · SALLE GILBERT LAFORET	INSEE BPE 2 [3]
Swimming pool	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Bank	3	CAISSE D'EPARGNE ET DE PREVOYANCE D'AUVERGNE ET DU LIMOUSIN · CAISSE LOCALE DE LE DONJON · CAISSE REG CREDIT AGRIC MUT CTRE FRANCE	INSEE BPE 3 [3]
Hairdresser	4	J & G BARBE & COIFFURES · COIFFURE VERONIQUE · BIGOUDI ET CIE · ILLUMIN'HAIR	INSEE BPE 4 / INSEE SIRENE 4 [3,4]
Fuel station	1	STATION SERVICE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Hotel	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Campsite	1	CAMPING MUNICIPAL DE LE DONJON	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]

Market and village life

Weekly market: Tuesday matin place de la République. ^[5,6]

Confirmed by two independent sources: Commune website and DATAtourisme.

Trajectory

1968: 1,512 2023: 1,007 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 1,084 (2012) → 1,007 (2023): -7.1 % over 10 years. ^[7,1]

Population 1,258 (1990) → 1,007 (2023): -20 % over 30 years. ^[8,1]

Dwellings (2023): 690, of which 9.4 % second homes and 20.3 % vacant. ^[9]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Bakery, Food shop, GP, Pharmacy Primary school — 0.6 km S 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 (Le Donjon): 0.3 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[10]

Food shop (Le Donjon): 0.3 km to the south (straight line). ^[10]

GP (Le Donjon): 0.1 km to the south (straight line). ^[10]

Pharmacy (Le Donjon): 0.2 km to the south (straight line). ^[10]

Primary school (Le Donjon): 0.6 km to the south (straight line). ^[10]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 21

Days at or below 0 °C 62.1

Muggy days a summer 2.5

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 21 days a year at or above 30 °C and 62 days at or below 0 °C, over 27 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[11]

Measured at the SAINT DIDIER_SAPC weather station, 4.5 km away at 293 m; the village itself is at 309 m. ^[11]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 3 days a summer. ^[11]

Humidity measured at SAINT DIDIER_SAPC, 4.5 km away at 293 m, over 15 summers. ^[11]

An average of 856 mm of rain a year, spread over 126 days — about 6.8 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at LE DONJON, 1 km away at 325 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 — 03103/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
Commune website 2026-10— https://www.mairie-le-donjon.fr/le-marche— “Chaque mardi matin, au coeur de la commune, les forains investissent la place de la République.”
DATAtourisme 2024-01— https://data.datatourisme.fr/13/8ef5a2ae-b07b-37b9-aad7-5ed19d383cce— “Marché local - le mardi.”
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 03103/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 03103/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 03103/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 03103
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
Pont-d'Ouilly	14	422 km NW	1,018	60	Served	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 69 % · winter 50 % · humidity 93 %
Tramayes	71	62 km E	1,070	56.7	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 92 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Georges-du-Vièvre	27	401 km NW	894	75	Served	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 67 % · winter 73 % · humidity 86 %
Chaumont-sur-Loire	41	235 km NW	1,096	56.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 90 % · winter 85 %
Bellenaves	03	58 km W	983	65.5	Served	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 64 % · humidity 86 %
La Bastide-de-Sérou	09	416 km SW	965	71.3	Served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 87 % · winter 69 % · humidity 79 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Bellenaves	03	58 km W	983	65.5	Served	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 64 % · humidity 86 %
Tramayes	71	62 km E	1,070	56.7	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 92 % · humidity 93 %
Chaumont-sur-Loire	41	235 km NW	1,096	56.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 90 % · winter 85 %
Saint-Georges-du-Vièvre	27	401 km NW	894	75	Served	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 67 % · winter 73 % · humidity 86 %
La Bastide-de-Sérou	09	416 km SW	965	71.3	Served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 87 % · winter 69 % · humidity 79 %
Pont-d'Ouilly	14	422 km NW	1,018	60	Served	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 69 % · winter 50 % · humidity 93 %

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 Le Donjon'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
Tramayes	71	62 km E	1,070	56.7	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 92 % · humidity 93 %
Dompierre-les-Ormes	71	53 km E	893	63	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 92 % · humidity 93 %
Cluis	36	158 km W	969	66	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 88 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Piat	28	295 km NW	1,120	41.9	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 100 % · humidity 86 %
Varennes-Saint-Sauveur	71	112 km E	1,108	39	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %
Moncontour	86	297 km W	976	58.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 88 % · humidity 100 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/03103-le-donjon