Le Bessat

Identity

Le Bessat (INSEE 42017) is in Loire (42), part of CC des Monts du Pilat. Population 530 (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/42017-le-bessat

Vitality score

Vitality score 51.1/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 94 % of the 17,639 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, a school and somewhere to eat or drink. ^[3,4]

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

4 × Restaurant (AUBERGE DE LA JASSERIE · SNACK / PIZZA LE BACHAT · COPAINS COMME COCHONS · EURL GIRODET). ^[3,4]

1 × Café / bar (LE TREMPLIN). ^[4]

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

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

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE - LE BESSAT). ^[3]

1 × Hotel (HOTEL DE FRANCE). ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette).

Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Supermarket, Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy. ^[3,4]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

Population 431 (2012) → 530 (2023): 23 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 250 (1990) → 530 (2023): 112 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 357, of which 24.4 % second homes and 8.4 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Bakery (La Valla-en-Gier): 5.2 km to the north (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Saint-Genest-Malifaux): 8.1 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Saint-Genest-Malifaux): 8 km to the west (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Saint-Genest-Malifaux): 8.2 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Le Bessat): 0.2 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[10]

Climate

An average of 4 days a year at or above 30 °C and 110 days at or below 0 °C, over 29 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[11]

Measured at the TARENTAISE weather station, 1.4 km away at 1,090 m; the village itself is at 1,171 m. ^[11]

The village sits 81 m above 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. ^[11]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 0 days a summer. ^[11]

Humidity measured at PILAT GRAIX, 3.5 km away at 1,164 m, over 18 summers. ^[11]

An average of 1,135 mm of rain a year, spread over 129 days — about 8.8 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at TARENTAISE, 1.4 km away at 1,090 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[11]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

1. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42017/2023
2. INSEE density grid 2026
3. INSEE BPE 2025
4. INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
5. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42017/2012
6. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42017/1990
7. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 42017/logement/2023
8. INSEE BPE 2025 — 42322
9. INSEE BPE 2025 — 42224
10. INSEE BPE 2025 — 42017
11. Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024