Lachau

Identity

Lachau (INSEE 26154) is in Drôme (26), part of CC du Sisteronais-Buëch. Population 218 (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/26154-lachau

Vitality score

Vitality score 26.5/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 79 % of the 16,490 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.

Services

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

2 × Bakery (boulangerie) (LES ENFARINES). ^[3,4]

1 × Restaurant (YOG' UM). ^[3,4]

1 × Post office / agence postale (LACHAU AP). ^[3]

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

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

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

Population 215 (2012) → 218 (2023): 1.4 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 190 (1990) → 218 (2023): 14.7 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 240, of which 40.4 % second homes and 8.3 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Bakery (Lachau): 0.2 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Vers-sur-Méouge): 5.8 km to the west (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Séderon): 8.6 km to the west (straight line). ^[10]

Pharmacy (Montbrun-les-Bains): 16.8 km to the west (straight line). ^[11]

Primary school (Éourres): 5.3 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[12]

Climate

An average of 27 days a year at or above 30 °C and 124 days at or below 0 °C, over 30 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[13]

Measured at the SEDERON weather station, 8.5 km away at 804 m; the village itself is at 719 m. ^[13]

The village sits 85 m below the station, so each day's reading was shifted by 6.06 °C per km of altitude before the days were counted. Expect the result to be within about 0.68 °C. ^[13]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 0 days a summer. ^[13]

Humidity measured at SEDERON, 8.5 km away at 804 m, over 24 summers. ^[13]

That station sits 85 m above the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 3.69 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. ^[13]

An average of 1,014 mm of rain a year, spread over 87 days — about 11.7 mm on a day it rains. ^[13]

Rainfall measured at SEDERON, 8.5 km away at 804 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[13]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

1. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 26154/2023
2. INSEE density grid 2026
3. INSEE BPE 2025
4. INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
5. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 26154/2012
6. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 26154/1990
7. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 26154/logement/2023
8. INSEE BPE 2025 — 26154
9. INSEE BPE 2025 — 26372
10. INSEE BPE 2025 — 26340
11. INSEE BPE 2025 — 26193
12. INSEE BPE 2025 — 05047
13. Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024