Pontarion

Creuse · CC Creuse Sud Ouest · INSEE 23155

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

Partly served 51.4/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 97 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Pontarion (INSEE 23155) is in Creuse (23), part of CC Creuse Sud Ouest. Population 357 (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/23155-pontarion

Vitality score

Vitality score 51.4/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 97 % of the 18,074 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	0.42	25	10.54
Social	0.43	20	8.65
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0.63	10	6.32
Public & culture	0.63	5	3.16
Population trend	0.52	10	5.2
Housing mix	0.7	5	3.5

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 2 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 0 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 2 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 1 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, a school and somewhere to eat or drink. ^[3,4]

1 × Bakery (boulangerie) (DELICES DU THAURION). ^[3,4]

1 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette) (PEYNE). ^[3,4]

2 × Restaurant (MELLOR AMANDA). ^[3,4]

1 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE). ^[3]

1 × GP (médecin généraliste) (GENEVIEVE JENDILLARD, MÉDECIN). ^[3]

1 × Pharmacy (PHARMACIE DU THAURION). ^[3,4]

1 × Post office / agence postale (LA POSTE). ^[3]

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE MUNICIPALE DE PONTARION). ^[3]

2 × Hairdresser. ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Pharmacy.

Not found in the commune: Butcher (boucherie), Supermarket, Café / bar, Nursery school (maternelle). ^[4,3]

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	1	DELICES DU THAURION	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Butcher (boucherie)	0		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Grocery (épicerie / supérette)	1	PEYNE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [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	2	MELLOR AMANDA	INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 3 [3,4]
Café / bar	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	1	ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Collège	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
GP (médecin généraliste)	1	GENEVIEVE JENDILLARD, MÉDECIN	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Pharmacy	1	PHARMACIE DU THAURION	INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [3,4]
Nurse	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Dentist	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Post office / agence postale	1	LA POSTE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Library	1	BIBLIOTHÈQUE MUNICIPALE DE PONTARION	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	2		INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [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: 419 2023: 357 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 362 (2012) → 357 (2023): -1.4 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 350 (1990) → 357 (2023): 2 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 266, of which 15 % second homes and 14.3 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Bakery, Food shop, Primary school, GP Pharmacy — 5.8 km N 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 (Pontarion): 0.1 km to the west (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Pontarion): 0.1 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

GP (Pontarion): 0.1 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Pharmacy (Sardent): 5.8 km to the north (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Pontarion): 0.3 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 15

Days at or below 0 °C 82.9

Muggy days a summer 1.1

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 15 days a year at or above 30 °C and 83 days at or below 0 °C, over 27 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[10]

Measured at the PONTARION_SAPC weather station, 0.2 km away at 455 m; the village itself is at 457 m. ^[10]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 1 day a summer. ^[10]

Humidity measured at BOURGANEUF, 11.5 km away at 513 m, over 30 summers. ^[10]

That station sits 56 m above the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 5.46 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. ^[10]

An average of 1,159 mm of rain a year, spread over 142 days — about 8.2 mm on a day it rains. ^[10]

Rainfall measured at PONTARION_SAPC, 0.2 km away at 455 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 — 23155/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 23155/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 23155/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 23155/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 23155
INSEE BPE 2025 — 23168
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
Saint-Seine-l'Abbaye	21	275 km NE	364	53.9	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 65 % · humidity 100 %
Saint-Pois	50	377 km NW	454	48.2	Partly served	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 72 % · winter 24 % · humidity 100 %
Le Veurdre	03	124 km NE	475	46.4	Partly served	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 85 % · winter 72 % · humidity 100 %
Bourg-de-Visa	82	205 km S	396	53.7	Partly served	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 54 % · winter 42 % · humidity 79 %
Sauzet	46	182 km S	531	56	Partly served	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 59 % · winter 62 % · humidity 57 %
Buzancy	08	446 km NE	380	41.7	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.summer 92 % · winter 54 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Le Veurdre	03	124 km NE	475	46.4	Partly served	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 85 % · winter 72 % · humidity 100 %
Sauzet	46	182 km S	531	56	Partly served	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 59 % · winter 62 % · humidity 57 %
Bourg-de-Visa	82	205 km S	396	53.7	Partly served	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 54 % · winter 42 % · humidity 79 %
Saint-Seine-l'Abbaye	21	275 km NE	364	53.9	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 65 % · humidity 100 %
Saint-Pois	50	377 km NW	454	48.2	Partly served	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 72 % · winter 24 % · humidity 100 %
Buzancy	08	446 km NE	380	41.7	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.summer 92 % · winter 54 %

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 Pontarion'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
Crocq	23	42 km E	389	39.6	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 85 % · humidity 93 %
Fénétrange	57	501 km NE	639	52.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 89 % · humidity 100 %
Châtelus-Malvaleix	23	37 km N	545	49.7	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %
Vrécourt	88	379 km NE	341	41.3	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %
Vauvillers	70	387 km NE	602	55.7	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 86 % · humidity 100 %
Saint-Vincent-de-Reins	69	196 km E	635	56.8	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 96 % · humidity 100 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/23155-pontarion