Saint-Hilaire

Allier · CC du Bocage Bourbonnais · INSEE 03238

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

Few services 32.7/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 67 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Saint-Hilaire (INSEE 03238) is in Allier (03), part of CC du Bocage Bourbonnais. Population 503 (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/03238-saint-hilaire

Vitality score

Vitality score 32.7/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 67 % of the 17,741 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	10	0
Public & culture	0.63	5	3.16
Population trend	0.35	10	3.45
Housing mix	0.66	5	3.31

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 0 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 1 of 2

Sport 0 of 2

Everyday services 0 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]

1 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette). ^[3,4]

1 × Café / bar. ^[4]

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

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

1 × Library (MAIRIE DE SAINT-HILAIRE). ^[3]

1 × Campsite (CAMPING MUNICIPAL DE ST HILAIRE). ^[3,4]

Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Supermarket, Restaurant, Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy. ^[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)	1		INSEE BPE 1 / 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	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Café / bar	1		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)	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	LA POSTE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Library	1	MAIRIE DE SAINT-HILAIRE	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	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	1	CAMPING MUNICIPAL DE ST HILAIRE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

1968: 902 2023: 503 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 489 (2012) → 503 (2023): 2.9 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 595 (1990) → 503 (2023): -15.5 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 360, of which 16.9 % second homes and 15.6 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Food shop, Primary school GP — 2.6 km EBakery — 5.5 km SWPharmacy — 8.0 km E 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 (Buxières-les-Mines): 5.5 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Saint-Hilaire): 0.1 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Gipcy): 2.6 km to the east (straight line). ^[10]

Pharmacy (Noyant-d'Allier): 8 km to the east (straight line). ^[11]

Primary school (Saint-Hilaire): 0.2 km to the south (straight line). ^[9]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 16.8

Days at or below 0 °C 43.4

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 43 days at or below 0 °C, over 20 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[12]

Measured at the BUXIERES weather station, 4.7 km away at 375 m; the village itself is at 310 m. ^[12]

The village sits 65 m below the station, so each day's reading was shifted by 6.06 °C per km of altitude before the days were counted. Expect the result to be within about 0.68 °C. ^[12]

An average of 763 mm of rain a year, spread over 126 days — about 6.1 mm on a day it rains. ^[12]

Rainfall measured at BUXIERES, 4.7 km away at 375 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[12]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 03238/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 03238/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 03238/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 03238/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 03046
INSEE BPE 2025 — 03238
INSEE BPE 2025 — 03122
INSEE BPE 2025 — 03202
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
Passavant-la-Rochère	70	280 km NE	524	30.2	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.summer 95 % · winter 66 %
Saint-Denis	11	354 km S	523	40.1	Partly served	Cooler summers, similar winters.summer 77 % · winter 86 %
Eynesse	33	290 km SW	581	36.2	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.summer 56 % · winter 96 %
Escragnolles	06	426 km SE	622	40.6	Partly served	Cooler summers and colder winters.summer 74 % · winter 22 %
Landreville	10	207 km NE	395	31.3	Few services	Much the same temperatures.summer 97 % · winter 99 %
Montchal	42	124 km SE	512	34.7	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.summer 97 % · winter 72 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Montchal	42	124 km SE	512	34.7	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.summer 97 % · winter 72 %
Landreville	10	207 km NE	395	31.3	Few services	Much the same temperatures.summer 97 % · winter 99 %
Passavant-la-Rochère	70	280 km NE	524	30.2	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.summer 95 % · winter 66 %
Eynesse	33	290 km SW	581	36.2	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.summer 56 % · winter 96 %
Saint-Denis	11	354 km S	523	40.1	Partly served	Cooler summers, similar winters.summer 77 % · winter 86 %
Escragnolles	06	426 km SE	622	40.6	Partly served	Cooler summers and colder winters.summer 74 % · winter 22 %

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/03238-saint-hilaire