Besse

Identity

Besse (INSEE 15269) is in Cantal (15), part of CC du Pays de Salers. Population 136 (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/15269-besse

Vitality score

Vitality score 14.5/100 — No daily shops (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 47 % of the 13,295 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

Somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop and no school. ^[3,4]

1 × Café / bar. ^[4]

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, Restaurant, Nursery school (maternelle), Primary school (élémentaire), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy, Post office / agence postale, Library. ^[3,4]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

Population 126 (2012) → 136 (2023): 7.9 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 153 (1990) → 136 (2023): -11.1 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 96, of which 29.2 % second homes and 5.2 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Bakery (Saint-Cernin): 7.1 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Saint-Illide): 4.7 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Saint-Martin-Valmeroux): 6.3 km to the east (straight line). ^[10]

Pharmacy (Saint-Martin-Valmeroux): 6.4 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[10]

Primary school (Saint-Illide): 4.8 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

Climate

An average of 12 days a year at or above 30 °C and 78 days at or below 0 °C, over 16 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[11]

Measured at the SALINS weather station, 9.8 km away at 660 m; the village itself is at 726 m. ^[11]

The village sits 66 m above 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. ^[11]

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

Humidity measured at MAURIAC, 14.7 km away at 674 m, over 29 summers. ^[11]

That station sits 52 m below the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 3.69 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. ^[11]

An average of 1,219 mm of rain a year, spread over 135 days — about 9 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at ST ILLIDE, 5.1 km away at 635 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[11]

What property sold for

12 houses sold between 2021 and 2025, at a median of 125,000 € — 985 € per m² of built surface. ^[12]

The median across Cantal is 1,059 € per m², so this commune sits about level with it. ^[12]

These are recorded sale prices, not valuations or asking prices, and a median over five years spans five different markets. Built surface excludes land, which carries much of a rural property's value.

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

1. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 15269/2023
2. INSEE density grid 2026
3. INSEE BPE 2025
4. INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
5. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 15269/2012
6. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 15269/1990
7. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 15269/logement/2023
8. INSEE BPE 2025 — 15175
9. INSEE BPE 2025 — 15191
10. INSEE BPE 2025 — 15202
11. Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024
12. DVF (DGFiP property transactions) 2021-2025