Balanzac

Charente-Maritime · CC Coeur de Saintonge · INSEE 17030

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

Few services 30.8/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 52 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Balanzac (INSEE 17030) is in Charente-Maritime (17), part of CC Coeur de Saintonge. Population 642 (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/17030-balanzac

Vitality score

Vitality score 30.8/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 52 % of the 16,773 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	20	0
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0	10	0
Public & culture	0	5	0
Population trend	1	10	10
Housing mix	0.92	5	4.58

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 1 of 6

Eating out 0 of 1

Cafés and bars 0 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 0 of 4

Public services 0 of 1

Culture 0 of 2

Sport 0 of 2

Everyday services 1 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 and a school, but nowhere to eat or drink. ^[3,4]

1 × Bakery (boulangerie) (LE PAIN DU MOULIN). ^[3,4]

1 × Nursery school (maternelle) (ECOLE MATERNELLE JOSIANE BAUDET-SIMONNEAU...). ^[3]

2 × Hairdresser (LES MAINS D'ARGENT · UN HAIR D'OPHELIE). ^[3,4]

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

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	1	LE PAIN DU MOULIN	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [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	0		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Café / bar	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	1	ECOLE MATERNELLE JOSIANE BAUDET-SIMONNEAU...	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [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	0		INSEE BPE 0 [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	2	LES MAINS D'ARGENT · UN HAIR D'OPHELIE	INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 4 [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: 360 2023: 642 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 531 (2012) → 642 (2023): 20.9 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 355 (1990) → 642 (2023): 80.8 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 336, of which 4.2 % second homes and 12.2 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Bakery, Primary school Food shop — 1.8 km EPharmacy — 1.8 km EGP — 1.9 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 (Balanzac): 0 km to the north (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Corme-Royal): 1.8 km to the east (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Corme-Royal): 1.9 km to the east (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Corme-Royal): 1.8 km to the east (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Balanzac): 0.2 km to the south (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 22.3

Days at or below 0 °C 28.3

Muggy days a summer 6.4

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 22 days a year at or above 30 °C and 28 days at or below 0 °C, over 30 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[10]

Measured at the SAINTES weather station, 14.5 km away at 38 m; the village itself is at 31 m. ^[10]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 6 days a summer. ^[10]

Humidity measured at SAINTES, 14.5 km away at 38 m, over 30 summers. ^[10]

An average of 899 mm of rain a year, spread over 127 days — about 7.1 mm on a day it rains. ^[10]

Rainfall measured at SAUJON, 10 km away at 7 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[10]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 17030/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 17030/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 17030/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 17030/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 17030
INSEE BPE 2025 — 17120
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
Arcizac-Adour	65	297 km S	614	29.4	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 86 % · humidity 93 %
Preures	62	573 km N	642	30.2	Few services	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel drier.summer 54 % · winter 99 % · humidity 71 %
Liniers	86	143 km NE	591	28.1	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 92 % · winter 51 % · humidity 71 %
Steinbrunn-le-Haut	68	659 km E	693	29	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 95 % · winter 46 % · humidity 71 %
Marnay	71	456 km E	533	26.1	Few services	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 67 % · winter 59 % · humidity 100 %
Nanteau-sur-Lunain	77	394 km NE	702	32	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 97 % · winter 73 % · humidity 64 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Liniers	86	143 km NE	591	28.1	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 92 % · winter 51 % · humidity 71 %
Arcizac-Adour	65	297 km S	614	29.4	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 86 % · humidity 93 %
Nanteau-sur-Lunain	77	394 km NE	702	32	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 97 % · winter 73 % · humidity 64 %
Marnay	71	456 km E	533	26.1	Few services	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 67 % · winter 59 % · humidity 100 %
Preures	62	573 km N	642	30.2	Few services	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel drier.summer 54 % · winter 99 % · humidity 71 %
Steinbrunn-le-Haut	68	659 km E	693	29	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 95 % · winter 46 % · humidity 71 %

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 Balanzac'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
Arcizac-Adour	65	297 km S	614	29.4	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 86 % · humidity 93 %
Luchat	17	6.2 km SE	511	24.6	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 100 % · humidity 100 %
Chamouillac	17	56 km SE	370	26.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 99 % · humidity 100 %
Foussignac	16	55 km E	661	27.7	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 95 % · humidity 86 %
Saint-Laurent-Bretagne	64	267 km S	449	22.1	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 89 % · humidity 100 %
Javrezac	16	37 km E	583	9.7	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/17030-balanzac