Alex
A school and somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop.
Few services 33.4/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 38 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.
Identity
Alex (INSEE 74003) is in Haute-Savoie (74), part of CC des Vallées de Thônes. Population 1,139 (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/74003-alex
Vitality score
Vitality score 33.4/100 — Few services (model fr-v0.2).
Confidence: high.
Better served than 38 % of the 13,561 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 | 0.51 | 20 | 10.26 |
| Education | 0.39 | 10 | 3.93 |
| Health | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Public & culture | 0.2 | 5 | 0.98 |
| Population trend | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Housing mix | 0.64 | 5 | 3.21 |
Services
What is here, at a glance
A school and somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop. [3,4]
2 × Restaurant (SAS ALEXCUSE · JMG SERVICES). [3,4]
1 × Café / bar (AUBERGE D'ALEX). [4]
1 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE ALEX). [3]
1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE D'ALEX). [3]
1 × Hairdresser (ESSENTIEL COIFFURE). [3,4]
Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette), 1 × Restaurant.
Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Nursery school (maternelle), 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] | |
| 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 | 2 | SAS ALEXCUSE · JMG SERVICES | INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 3 [3,4] |
| Café / bar | 1 | AUBERGE D'ALEX | INSEE SIRENE 1 [4] |
| Nursery school (maternelle) | 0 | INSEE BPE 0 [3] | |
| Primary school (élémentaire) | 1 | ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE ALEX | 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 | 1 | BIBLIOTHÈQUE D'ALEX | 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 | 1 | ESSENTIEL COIFFURE | INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [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 SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [4] |
Market and village life
Market day: unknown — nothing found in the datasets or on the commune website.
Trajectory
Population 1,002 (2012) → 1,139 (2023): 13.7 % over 10 years. [5,1]
Population 574 (1990) → 1,139 (2023): 98.4 % over 30 years. [6,1]
Dwellings (2023): 565, of which 17.9 % second homes and 2.7 % vacant. [7]
Access and surroundings
Which way the everyday services lie
Bakery (Dingy-Saint-Clair): 2.6 km to the north (straight line). [8]
Food shop (Menthon-Saint-Bernard): 4.6 km to the south-west (straight line). [9]
GP (Menthon-Saint-Bernard): 4.7 km to the south-west (straight line). [9]
Pharmacy (Menthon-Saint-Bernard): 4.3 km to the south-west (straight line). [9]
Primary school (Alex): 0.1 km to the west (straight line). [10]
Climate
Where this sits nationally
An average of 19 days a year at or above 30 °C and 92 days at or below 0 °C, over 30 complete years in 1995–2024. [11]
Measured at the THONES weather station, 6.7 km away at 630 m; the village itself is at 594 m. [11]
Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 0 days a summer. [11]
Humidity measured at MEYTHET, 12 km away at 455 m, over 29 summers. [11]
That station sits 139 m below the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 3.69 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. [11]
An average of 1,585 mm of rain a year, spread over 131 days — about 12.1 mm on a day it rains. [11]
Rainfall measured at ALEX, 0.6 km away at 680 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. [11]
Uncertainties
No specific uncertainties flagged.
References
- INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 74003/2023
- INSEE density grid 2026
- INSEE BPE 2025
- INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
- INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 74003/2012
- INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 74003/1990
- INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 74003/logement/2023
- INSEE BPE 2025 — 74102
- INSEE BPE 2025 — 74176
- INSEE BPE 2025 — 74003
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Jean-de-Tholome | 74 | 28 km NE | 1,180 | 31.4 | Few services | Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 85 % · winter 58 % · humidity 100 % |
| Vatteville-la-Rue | 76 | 577 km NW | 1,103 | 28.5 | Few services | Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 74 % · winter 30 % · humidity 93 % |
| Peyrat-de-Bellac | 87 | 403 km W | 1,059 | 28 | Few services | Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 92 % · winter 51 % · humidity 79 % |
| Saint-Carné | 22 | 687 km NW | 1,167 | 37.6 | Few services | Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 69 % · winter 24 % · humidity 93 % |
| Missiriac | 56 | 688 km W | 1,195 | 29.8 | Few services | Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 74 % · winter 30 % · humidity 93 % |
| Saint-Hilaire-le-Vouhis | 85 | 573 km W | 1,101 | 36 | Few services | Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 28 % · humidity 86 % |
Order by distance instead
| Commune | Dept | Distance | Population | Score | Band | Climate vs here |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Jean-de-Tholome | 74 | 28 km NE | 1,180 | 31.4 | Few services | Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 85 % · winter 58 % · humidity 100 % |
| Peyrat-de-Bellac | 87 | 403 km W | 1,059 | 28 | Few services | Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 92 % · winter 51 % · humidity 79 % |
| Saint-Hilaire-le-Vouhis | 85 | 573 km W | 1,101 | 36 | Few services | Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 28 % · humidity 86 % |
| Vatteville-la-Rue | 76 | 577 km NW | 1,103 | 28.5 | Few services | Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 74 % · winter 30 % · humidity 93 % |
| Saint-Carné | 22 | 687 km NW | 1,167 | 37.6 | Few services | Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 69 % · winter 24 % · humidity 93 % |
| Missiriac | 56 | 688 km W | 1,195 | 29.8 | Few services | Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 74 % · winter 30 % · humidity 93 % |
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 Alex'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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montagnole | 73 | 47 km SW | 1,038 | 32.1 | Few services | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 93 % · humidity 93 % |
| La Sure en Chartreuse | 38 | 75 km SW | 1,072 | 28 | Few services | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 93 % · humidity 93 % |
| Moye | 74 | 25 km W | 985 | 32.4 | Few services | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 97 % · humidity 100 % |
| Saint-Cassin | 73 | 47 km SW | 1,046 | 35.7 | Few services | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 99 % · humidity 93 % |
| Héry-sur-Alby | 74 | 20 km SW | 979 | 36.5 | Few services | Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 89 % · humidity 100 % |
| Léaz | 01 | 36 km NW | 912 | 33.5 | Few services | 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/74003-alex