Plou

Cher · CC FerCher · INSEE 18181

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

Few services 22.7/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 33 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Plou (INSEE 18181) is in Cher (18), part of CC FerCher. Population 527 (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/18181-plou

Vitality score

Vitality score 22.7/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 33 % of the 17,659 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	0.32	5	1.58
Population trend	0.71	10	7.09
Housing mix	0.86	5	4.31

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 1 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]

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE). ^[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. ^[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 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 BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
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	1	BIBLIOTHÈQUE	INSEE BPE 1 [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: 421 peak 2017: 529 2023: 527 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 520 (2012) → 527 (2023): 1.3 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 436 (1990) → 527 (2023): 20.9 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 275, of which 6.9 % second homes and 9.8 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Primary school GP — 3.6 km SWBakery — 3.8 km SWFood shop — 3.8 km SWPharmacy — 3.8 km SW 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 (Chârost): 3.8 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Chârost): 3.8 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

GP (Chârost): 3.6 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Pharmacy (Chârost): 3.8 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Primary school (Plou): 0.1 km to the north (straight line). ^[9]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 17.9

Days at or below 0 °C 53.1

Muggy days a summer 4.8

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 18 days a year at or above 30 °C and 53 days at or below 0 °C, over 20 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[10]

Measured at the CIVRAY weather station, 3.3 km away at 148 m; the village itself is at 156 m. ^[10]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 5 days a summer. ^[10]

Humidity measured at CIVRAY, 3.3 km away at 148 m, over 15 summers. ^[10]

An average of 761 mm of rain a year, spread over 119 days — about 6.4 mm on a day it rains. ^[10]

Rainfall measured at PLOU, 3 km away at 124 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 — 18181/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 18181/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 18181/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 18181/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 18055
INSEE BPE 2025 — 18181
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
Coadout	22	433 km NW	532	21.4	Few services	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 64 % · winter 80 % · humidity 71 %
Saint-Éloi-de-Fourques	27	266 km N	537	26	Few services	Cooler summers, similar winters.summer 79 % · winter 100 %
Saint-Georges-le-Gaultier	72	221 km NW	517	19	No daily shops	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel drier.summer 85 % · winter 89 % · humidity 71 %
Fontaine-Henry	14	318 km NW	528	22.6	Few services	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 56 % · winter 54 % · humidity 71 %
Saint-Maurice-en-Rivière	71	218 km E	532	23.2	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel drier.summer 72 % · winter 88 % · humidity 79 %
Sainte-Hélène	71	191 km E	511	26.3	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel drier.summer 90 % · winter 89 % · humidity 71 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Sainte-Hélène	71	191 km E	511	26.3	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel drier.summer 90 % · winter 89 % · humidity 71 %
Saint-Maurice-en-Rivière	71	218 km E	532	23.2	Few services	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel drier.summer 72 % · winter 88 % · humidity 79 %
Saint-Georges-le-Gaultier	72	221 km NW	517	19	No daily shops	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel drier.summer 85 % · winter 89 % · humidity 71 %
Saint-Éloi-de-Fourques	27	266 km N	537	26	Few services	Cooler summers, similar winters.summer 79 % · winter 100 %
Fontaine-Henry	14	318 km NW	528	22.6	Few services	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 56 % · winter 54 % · humidity 71 %
Coadout	22	433 km NW	532	21.4	Few services	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 64 % · winter 80 % · 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 Plou'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
Vaux-sur-Vienne	86	122 km W	538	20.1	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 99 % · humidity 86 %
Mouzay	37	96 km W	460	20.7	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 92 % · humidity 86 %
Viricelles	42	228 km SE	449	25.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 86 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Genest-sur-Roselle	87	156 km S	540	31	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 88 % · humidity 86 %
La Chapelle-aux-Naux	37	135 km W	562	21	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 97 % · humidity 86 %
Wintzenbach	67	491 km NE	532	19.3	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 91 % · humidity 86 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/18181-plou