Bard

Loire · CA Loire Forez Agglomération (LFA) · INSEE 42012

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

Few services 30/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 46 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Bard (INSEE 42012) is in Loire (42), part of CA Loire Forez Agglomération (LFA). Population 700 (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/42012-bard

Vitality score

Vitality score 30/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 46 % of the 16,415 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	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0	10	0
Public & culture	0	5	0
Population trend	0.85	10	8.51
Housing mix	0.87	5	4.37

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 0 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 0 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 0 of 4

Public services 0 of 1

Culture 0 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 and somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop. ^[3,4]

1 × Restaurant (AUBERGE DE LA GRAND'FONT). ^[3,4]

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

Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Café / bar, Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy, Post office / agence postale, Library. ^[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	1	AUBERGE DE LA GRAND'FONT	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Café / bar	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	1	ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE LE PERRON	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	0		INSEE BPE 0 [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: 335 2023: 700 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 629 (2012) → 700 (2023): 11.3 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 518 (1990) → 700 (2023): 35.1 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 349, of which 6.3 % second homes and 10.9 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Primary school Food shop — 2.2 km SWGP — 3.8 km NBakery — 4.0 km EPharmacy — 4.3 km NE 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 (Écotay-l'Olme): 4 km to the east (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Verrières-en-Forez): 2.2 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Essertines-en-Châtelneuf): 3.8 km to the north (straight line). ^[10]

Pharmacy (Montbrison): 4.3 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[11]

Primary school (Bard): 0.1 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[12]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 7.9

Days at or below 0 °C 83.1

Muggy days a summer 10.3▸

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 8 days a year at or above 30 °C and 83 days at or below 0 °C, over 18 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[13]

Measured at the VERRIERES EN FO weather station, 1.8 km away at 770 m; the village itself is at 759 m. ^[13]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 10 days a summer. ^[13]

Humidity measured at ST-BONNET-LE-CHATEAU_SAPC, 17.5 km away at 822 m, over 10 summers. ^[13]

That station sits 63 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 873 mm of rain a year, spread over 117 days — about 7.5 mm on a day it rains. ^[13]

Rainfall measured at VERRIERES EN FO, 1.8 km away at 770 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[13]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42012/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42012/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42012/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42012/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 42087
INSEE BPE 2025 — 42328
INSEE BPE 2025 — 42089
INSEE BPE 2025 — 42147
INSEE BPE 2025 — 42012
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
Cerisy-Belle-Étoile	61	500 km NW	693	25.7	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 95 % · winter 54 % · humidity 36 %
Monteils	30	167 km S	692	37.2	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 0 % · winter 20 % · humidity 64 %
Auvers	50	575 km NW	683	30.9	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 90 % · winter 39 % · humidity 36 %
Sainte-Honorine-la-Chardonne	61	495 km NW	684	26.9	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 100 % · winter 70 % · humidity 36 %
Juilley	50	526 km NW	691	34.3	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 95 % · winter 24 % · humidity 43 %
Courbépine	27	472 km NW	733	31	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 97 % · winter 45 % · humidity 36 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Monteils	30	167 km S	692	37.2	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 0 % · winter 20 % · humidity 64 %
Courbépine	27	472 km NW	733	31	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 97 % · winter 45 % · humidity 36 %
Sainte-Honorine-la-Chardonne	61	495 km NW	684	26.9	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 100 % · winter 70 % · humidity 36 %
Cerisy-Belle-Étoile	61	500 km NW	693	25.7	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 95 % · winter 54 % · humidity 36 %
Juilley	50	526 km NW	691	34.3	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 95 % · winter 24 % · humidity 43 %
Auvers	50	575 km NW	683	30.9	Few services	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 90 % · winter 39 % · humidity 36 %

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 Bard'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
Marols	42	12 km S	462	43.3	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Nizier-de-Fornas	42	21 km S	655	26.8	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %
Soleymieux	42	9.1 km S	716	42.5	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 92 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Sauveur-en-Rue	42	52 km SE	1,081	28.3	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 95 % · humidity 86 %
Verrières-en-Forez	42	2.2 km SW	731	43.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 100 % · humidity 93 %
La Tourette	42	20 km S	642	36.2	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/42012-bard