Arçay

Cher · CA Bourges Plus · INSEE 18008

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

Few services 22.8/100 · confidence: medium· Better served than 36 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Arçay (INSEE 18008) is in Cher (18), part of CA Bourges Plus. Population 500 (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/18008-arcay

Vitality score

Vitality score 22.8/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: medium (sources disagree on Restaurant).

Better served than 36 % of the 17,798 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	0.82	10	8.23
Housing mix	0.97	5	4.87

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 0 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 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE ELEMENTAIRE PUBLIQUE). ^[3]

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 BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Butcher (boucherie)	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Grocery (épicerie / supérette)	0		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [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 3 / INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Café / bar	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	1	ECOLE ELEMENTAIRE 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	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	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	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: 258 peak 2012: 529 2023: 500 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 529 (2012) → 500 (2023): -5.5 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 378 (1990) → 500 (2023): 32.3 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 232, of which 1.3 % second homes and 8.2 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Primary school Bakery — 4.6 km SEPharmacy — 5.4 km SEFood shop — 5.6 km SEGP — 5.8 km SE 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 (Corquoy): 4.6 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Levet): 5.6 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Levet): 5.8 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Levet): 5.4 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Arçay): 0 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[10]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 19

Days at or below 0 °C 42.6

Muggy days a summer 1.4

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 19 days a year at or above 30 °C and 43 days at or below 0 °C, over 30 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[11]

Measured at the BOURGES weather station, 12.3 km away at 161 m; the village itself is at 165 m. ^[11]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 1 day a summer. ^[11]

Humidity measured at BOURGES, 12.3 km away at 161 m, over 30 summers. ^[11]

An average of 741 mm of rain a year, spread over 117 days — about 6.3 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at LEVET, 5 km away at 174 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[11]

Uncertainties

sources disagree on Restaurant

References

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 18008/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 18008/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 18008/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 18008/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 18073
INSEE BPE 2025 — 18126
INSEE BPE 2025 — 18008
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
Bellancourt	80	351 km N	494	19.4	No daily shops	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 64 % · winter 86 % · humidity 100 %
Bienville	60	280 km N	495	18.6	No daily shops	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 74 % · winter 100 % · humidity 100 %
Montereau-sur-le-Jard	77	185 km N	499	24.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 99 % · humidity 100 %
Wismes	62	412 km N	492	18.9	No daily shops	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 62 % · winter 81 % · humidity 100 %
Vauclerc	51	261 km NE	497	18.8	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 89 % · humidity 93 %
Les Bréseux	25	340 km E	494	23.1	Few services	Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 64 % · winter 3 % · humidity 93 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Montereau-sur-le-Jard	77	185 km N	499	24.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 99 % · humidity 100 %
Vauclerc	51	261 km NE	497	18.8	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 89 % · humidity 93 %
Bienville	60	280 km N	495	18.6	No daily shops	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 74 % · winter 100 % · humidity 100 %
Les Bréseux	25	340 km E	494	23.1	Few services	Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 64 % · winter 3 % · humidity 93 %
Bellancourt	80	351 km N	494	19.4	No daily shops	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 64 % · winter 86 % · humidity 100 %
Wismes	62	412 km N	492	18.9	No daily shops	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 62 % · winter 81 % · humidity 100 %

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 Arçay'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
Montereau-sur-le-Jard	77	185 km N	499	24.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 99 % · humidity 100 %
Vauclerc	51	261 km NE	497	18.8	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 89 % · humidity 93 %
Siegen	67	480 km NE	519	21.6	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 96 % · humidity 86 %
Villers-le-Sec	70	301 km E	519	20.7	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 92 % · humidity 93 %
Cuisy	77	233 km N	476	22.4	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 89 % · humidity 86 %
Martot	27	277 km N	464	18	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 92 % · humidity 100 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/18008-arcay