Champcella

Identity

Champcella (INSEE 05031) is in Hautes-Alpes (05), part of CC du Pays des Ecrins. Population 181 (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/05031-champcella

Vitality score

Vitality score 30.7/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 91 % of the 15,351 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.

Services

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

1 × Bakery (boulangerie) (HUMUS). ^[3,4]

1 × Café / bar. ^[4]

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

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE DE CHAMPCELLA LA SI PETITE BIBLIOTHÈQUE DE CHAMPCELLA). ^[3]

1 × Hairdresser (VANESSA COIFFURE). ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Restaurant.

Not found in the commune: Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Restaurant, Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy, Post office / agence postale. ^[3,4]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

Population 177 (2012) → 181 (2023): 2.3 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 156 (1990) → 181 (2023): 16 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 213, of which 53.5 % second homes and 7 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Bakery (Champcella): 1.7 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (La Roche-de-Rame): 2.9 km to the north (straight line). ^[9]

GP (L'Argentière-la-Bessée): 8.3 km to the north (straight line). ^[10]

Pharmacy (L'Argentière-la-Bessée): 8.3 km to the north (straight line). ^[10]

Primary school (Champcella): 0 km to the west (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

An average of 13 days a year at or above 30 °C and 162 days at or below 0 °C, over 18 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[11]

Measured at the ST CREPIN weather station, 3.1 km away at 906 m; the village itself is at 1,203 m. ^[11]

The village sits 297 m above the station, so each day's reading was shifted by 5.21 °C per km of altitude before the days were counted. Expect the result to be within about 0.68 °C. ^[11]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 0 days a summer. ^[11]

Humidity measured at ST CREPIN, 3.1 km away at 906 m, over 18 summers. ^[11]

That station sits 297 m below the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 4.57 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. ^[11]

An average of 886 mm of rain a year, spread over 96 days — about 9.2 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at CHAMPCELLA, 0.5 km away at 1,100 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[11]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

1. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 05031/2023
2. INSEE density grid 2026
3. INSEE BPE 2025
4. INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
5. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 05031/2012
6. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 05031/1990
7. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 05031/logement/2023
8. INSEE BPE 2025 — 05031
9. INSEE BPE 2025 — 05122
10. INSEE BPE 2025 — 05006
11. Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024