Varzay

Charente-Maritime · CA "Saintes - Grandes Rives - L'Agglo" · INSEE 17460

A school, but no food shop and nowhere to eat or drink.

Few services 22.5/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 16 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Varzay (INSEE 17460) is in Charente-Maritime (17), part of CA "Saintes - Grandes Rives - L'Agglo". Population 845 (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/17460-varzay

Vitality score

Vitality score 22.5/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 16 % of the 15,338 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	25	0
Social	0	20	0
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0	10	0
Public & culture	0	5	0
Population trend	0.83	10	8.33
Housing mix	0.89	5	4.45

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

1 × Fishmonger (LA POISSONNERIE). ^[4,3]

1 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE PRIMAIRE DE VARZAY). ^[4]

Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Restaurant, Café / bar, Nursery school (maternelle), 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)	0		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Butcher (boucherie)	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [4,3]
Grocery (épicerie / supérette)	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [4,3]
Supermarket	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [4,3]
Cheese shop (fromagerie)	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Fishmonger	1	LA POISSONNERIE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [4,3]
Restaurant	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [4,3]
Café / bar	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Primary school (élémentaire)	1	ECOLE PRIMAIRE DE VARZAY	INSEE BPE 1 [4]
Collège	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
GP (médecin généraliste)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Pharmacy	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [4,3]
Nurse	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Dentist	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Post office / agence postale	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Library	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Cinema	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Gym / sports hall	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Swimming pool	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Bank	0		INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Hairdresser	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [4,3]
Fuel station	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [4,3]
Hotel	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [4,3]
Campsite	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [4,3]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

1968: 468 2023: 845 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 804 (2012) → 845 (2023): 5.1 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 634 (1990) → 845 (2023): 33.3 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 440, of which 5.5 % second homes and 5 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Primary school Bakery — 1.7 km SEFood shop — 3.0 km SGP — 3.5 km WPharmacy — 7.2 km NW 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 (Rétaud): 1.7 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Rétaud): 3 km to the south (straight line). ^[8]

GP (Pisany): 3.5 km to the west (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Corme-Royal): 7.2 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[10]

Primary school (Varzay): 0.1 km to the east (straight line). ^[11]

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. ^[12]

Measured at the SAINTES weather station, 9 km away at 38 m; the village itself is at 29 m. ^[12]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 6 days a summer. ^[12]

Humidity measured at SAINTES, 9 km away at 38 m, over 30 summers. ^[12]

An average of 898 mm of rain a year, spread over 122 days — about 7.4 mm on a day it rains. ^[12]

Rainfall measured at SAINTES, 9 km away at 38 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[12]

What property sold for

51 houses sold between 2021 and 2025, at a median of 174,100 € — 1,094 € per m² of built surface. ^[13]

The median across Charente-Maritime is 2,339 € per m², so this commune sits below it. ^[13]

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

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 17460/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 17460/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 17460/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 17460/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 17296
INSEE BPE 2025 — 17278
INSEE BPE 2025 — 17120
INSEE BPE 2025 — 17460
Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024
DVF (DGFiP property transactions) 2021-2025

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
Escamps	89	392 km NE	836	21.2	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 90 % · winter 72 % · humidity 64 %
Dizimieu	38	468 km E	835	24.6	Few services	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 85 % · winter 42 % · humidity 71 %
Neuville-sur-Brenne	37	247 km NE	872	24.4	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 90 % · winter 80 % · humidity 64 %
Menthonnex-sous-Clermont	74	517 km E	811	24.4	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 95 % · winter 61 % · humidity 64 %
Draillant	74	559 km E	872	24.4	Few services	Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 54 % · winter 57 % · humidity 64 %
Lachapelle-Saint-Pierre	60	455 km NE	827	17.5	No daily shops	no figures

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Neuville-sur-Brenne	37	247 km NE	872	24.4	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 90 % · winter 80 % · humidity 64 %
Escamps	89	392 km NE	836	21.2	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 90 % · winter 72 % · humidity 64 %
Lachapelle-Saint-Pierre	60	455 km NE	827	17.5	No daily shops	no figures
Dizimieu	38	468 km E	835	24.6	Few services	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 85 % · winter 42 % · humidity 71 %
Menthonnex-sous-Clermont	74	517 km E	811	24.4	Few services	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 95 % · winter 61 % · humidity 64 %
Draillant	74	559 km E	872	24.4	Few services	Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 54 % · winter 57 % · humidity 64 %

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 Varzay'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
Bayon-sur-Gironde	33	73 km S	734	18.3	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %
Barret	16	48 km SE	1,080	17.4	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 93 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Martin-de-Ribérac	24	100 km SE	723	19.8	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Cybardeaux	16	56 km E	771	21.3	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 92 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Sulpice-d'Arnoult	17	14 km NW	924	32	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 92 % · humidity 86 %
Bours	65	278 km S	882	31.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 86 % · humidity 86 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/17460-varzay