Besse

Isère · CC de l'Oisans · INSEE 38040

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

No daily shops 19/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 66 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Besse (INSEE 38040) is in Isère (38), part of CC de l'Oisans. Population 154 (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/38040-besse

Vitality score

Vitality score 19/100 — No daily shops (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 66 % of the 14,305 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	0.32	20	6.32
Education	0	10	0
Health	0	10	0
Public & culture	0.32	5	1.58
Population trend	0.83	10	8.28
Housing mix	0	5	0

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 0 of 6

Eating out 0 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 0 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 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”.

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

1 × Café / bar. ^[4]

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

1 × Campsite (MAIRIE). ^[3]

Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Restaurant, Nursery school (maternelle), Primary school (élémentaire), 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	1		INSEE SIRENE 1 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [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 MUNICIPALE DE BESSE	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	1	MAIRIE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

1968: 162 2023: 154 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 144 (2012) → 154 (2023): 6.9 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 116 (1990) → 154 (2023): 32.8 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 258, of which 58.9 % second homes and 2.7 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

Primary school — 3.2 km SWFood shop — 6.8 km SWBakery — 7.0 km SWGP — 7.0 km SWPharmacy — 7.6 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 (Les Deux Alpes): 7 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Les Deux Alpes): 6.8 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

GP (Les Deux Alpes): 7 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Pharmacy (Les Deux Alpes): 7.6 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Primary school (Mizoën): 3.2 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 1.9▸

Days at or below 0 °C 122.9▸

Muggy days a summer 0

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 2 days a year at or above 30 °C and 123 days at or below 0 °C, over 27 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[10]

Measured at the BESSE weather station, 0.2 km away at 1,520 m; the village itself is at 1,563 m. ^[10]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 0 days a summer. ^[10]

Humidity measured at ALPE-D'HUEZ, 6.9 km away at 1,860 m, over 18 summers. ^[10]

That station sits 297 m above the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 3.69 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. ^[10]

An average of 935 mm of rain a year, spread over 103 days — about 9.1 mm on a day it rains. ^[10]

Rainfall measured at BESSE, 0.2 km away at 1,520 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 — 38040/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 38040/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 38040/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 38040/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 38253
INSEE BPE 2025 — 38237
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
Pradelles-Cabardès	11	350 km SW	160	15.7	No daily shops	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 0 % · humidity 86 %
Albon-d'Ardèche	07	140 km W	159	21.7	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 41 % · winter 22 % · humidity 100 %
Chilhac	43	215 km W	176	23.3	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 23 % · winter 59 % · humidity 100 %
Dracy-lès-Couches	71	237 km NW	152	14.4	No daily shops	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 44 % · winter 16 % · humidity 93 %
Arfons	81	367 km SW	188	17.8	No daily shops	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 56 % · winter 12 % · humidity 79 %
Lespinassière	11	344 km SW	139	20	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 74 % · winter 0 % · humidity 64 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Albon-d'Ardèche	07	140 km W	159	21.7	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 41 % · winter 22 % · humidity 100 %
Chilhac	43	215 km W	176	23.3	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 23 % · winter 59 % · humidity 100 %
Dracy-lès-Couches	71	237 km NW	152	14.4	No daily shops	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 44 % · winter 16 % · humidity 93 %
Lespinassière	11	344 km SW	139	20	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 74 % · winter 0 % · humidity 64 %
Pradelles-Cabardès	11	350 km SW	160	15.7	No daily shops	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 0 % · humidity 86 %
Arfons	81	367 km SW	188	17.8	No daily shops	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 56 % · winter 12 % · humidity 79 %

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 Besse'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
Barges	43	181 km W	100	15.1	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 99 % · humidity 100 %
La Chapelle-en-Valgaudémar	05	28 km S	120	26.9	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 85 % · humidity 100 %
Saint-Point-Lac	25	194 km N	306	22	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 85 % · humidity 100 %
Montbel	48	201 km W	146	6.5	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 92 % · humidity 100 %
Targasonne	66	440 km SW	201	28.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 93 % · humidity 100 %
Porta	66	449 km SW	94	15.3	No daily shops	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · 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/38040-besse