Velles

Indre · CC Éguzon - Argenton - Vallée de la Creuse · INSEE 36231

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

Partly served 55.5/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 92 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Velles (INSEE 36231) is in Indre (36), part of CC Éguzon - Argenton - Vallée de la Creuse. Population 975 (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/36231-velles

Vitality score

Vitality score 55.5/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 92 % of the 14,471 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	0.21	25	5.27
Social	0.75	20	14.97
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0.63	10	6.32
Public & culture	0.63	5	3.16
Population trend	0.67	10	6.68
Housing mix	0.89	5	4.45

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 1 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 2 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 1 of 2

Sport 1 of 2

Everyday services 2 of 3

Lodging 1 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 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette) (API VELLES). ^[3,4]

1 × Restaurant. ^[3,4]

2 × Café / bar (CECIBON · LA CHAVOCHE). ^[4]

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

1 × GP (médecin généraliste) (JOHANNA ATTAL, MÉDECIN). ^[3]

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

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

1 × Library (COMPLEXE SOCIO-CULTUREL VICTOR HUGO). ^[3]

1 × Gym / sports hall (STADE MUNICIPAL MAURICE RAES FOOTBALL). ^[3]

2 × Hairdresser (CLEMA COIFFURE). ^[3,4]

1 × Fuel station (STATION SERVICE). ^[3,4]

1 × Campsite (RESTAURANT LES GRANDS PINS). ^[3,4]

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

Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Supermarket, Nursery school (maternelle). ^[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)	1	API VELLES	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	1		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [3,4]
Café / bar	2	CECIBON · LA CHAVOCHE	INSEE SIRENE 2 [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	JOHANNA ATTAL, MÉDECIN	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Pharmacy	1	PHARMACIE ANACLET	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [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	COMPLEXE SOCIO-CULTUREL VICTOR HUGO	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Cinema	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Gym / sports hall	1	STADE MUNICIPAL MAURICE RAES FOOTBALL	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Swimming pool	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Bank	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Hairdresser	2	CLEMA COIFFURE	INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]
Fuel station	1	STATION SERVICE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 3 [3,4]
Hotel	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Campsite	1	RESTAURANT LES GRANDS PINS	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

1968: 668 peak 2017: 985 2023: 975 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 977 (2012) → 975 (2023): -0.2 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 835 (1990) → 975 (2023): 16.8 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 513, of which 5.5 % second homes and 8 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Food shop, Primary school, GP, Pharmacy Bakery — 3.6 km E 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 (Arthon): 3.6 km to the east (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Velles): 0.4 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Velles): 0.1 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Velles): 0.4 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Velles): 0 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[9]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 19.9

Days at or below 0 °C 47.8

Muggy days a summer 3

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 20 days a year at or above 30 °C and 48 days at or below 0 °C, over 30 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[10]

Measured at the TENDU_SAPC weather station, 5.6 km away at 155 m; the village itself is at 142 m. ^[10]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 3 days a summer. ^[10]

Humidity measured at TENDU_SAPC, 5.6 km away at 155 m, over 30 summers. ^[10]

An average of 783 mm of rain a year, spread over 119 days — about 6.6 mm on a day it rains. ^[10]

Rainfall measured at TENDU_SAPC, 5.6 km away at 155 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 — 36231/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 36231/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 36231/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 36231/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 36009
INSEE BPE 2025 — 36231
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
Roybon	38	320 km SE	1,091	39.6	Few services	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel drier.summer 77 % · winter 99 % · humidity 79 %
Pourrain	89	178 km NE	1,270	38.6	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 95 % · humidity 86 %
Bazoges-en-Pareds	85	196 km W	1,184	46.4	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 88 % · humidity 100 %
La Chapelaude	03	72 km SE	938	60.2	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %
Chusclan	30	369 km SE	980	49.1	Partly served	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 0 % · winter 59 % · humidity 50 %
Brizambourg	17	190 km SW	997	54.6	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 92 % · winter 78 % · humidity 71 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
La Chapelaude	03	72 km SE	938	60.2	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %
Pourrain	89	178 km NE	1,270	38.6	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 95 % · humidity 86 %
Brizambourg	17	190 km SW	997	54.6	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 92 % · winter 78 % · humidity 71 %
Bazoges-en-Pareds	85	196 km W	1,184	46.4	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 88 % · humidity 100 %
Roybon	38	320 km SE	1,091	39.6	Few services	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel drier.summer 77 % · winter 99 % · humidity 79 %
Chusclan	30	369 km SE	980	49.1	Partly served	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 0 % · winter 59 % · humidity 50 %

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 Velles'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
Pourrain	89	178 km NE	1,270	38.6	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 95 % · humidity 86 %
Bazoges-en-Pareds	85	196 km W	1,184	46.4	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 88 % · humidity 100 %
La Chapelaude	03	72 km SE	938	60.2	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %
Monts-sur-Guesnes	86	113 km W	921	51.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 %
Neuvy-le-Roi	37	129 km NW	1,048	42.8	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 85 % · humidity 93 %
Fontaine-les-Grès	10	257 km NE	914	62.6	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 85 % · humidity 86 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/36231-velles