Courlay

Deux-Sèvres · CA du Bocage Bressuirais · INSEE 79103

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

Partly served 43.1/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 45 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Courlay (INSEE 79103) is in Deux-Sèvres (79), part of CA du Bocage Bressuirais. Population 2,387 (2023). ^[1]

INSEE density class: Bourgs ruraux (level 5). ^[2]

Data vintages: INSEE BPE 2025 · INSEE SIRENE 2026-09 · INSEE census (RP) 2023 · INSEE COG 2026 · INSEE density grid 2026 · Commune website 2026-10-24.

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/79103-courlay

Vitality score

Vitality score 43.1/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 45 % of the 8,514 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	0.13	25	3.28
Social	0.7	20	14.09
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0.2	10	1.97
Public & culture	0.39	5	1.97
Population trend	0.43	10	4.33
Housing mix	0.93	5	4.65

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 1 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 2 of 3

Health 1 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 1 of 2

Sport 1 of 2

Everyday services 1 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 food shop, a school and somewhere to eat or drink. ^[3,4]

1 × Bakery (boulangerie). ^[3,4]

3 × Restaurant (CARTE D'AURE · CHEZ KALOU). ^[3,4]

2 × Café / bar (SAINT ELOI). ^[4]

1 × Nursery school (maternelle) (ECOLE MATERNELLE PUBLIQUE). ^[3]

2 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE ELEMENTAIRE · ECOLE PRIMAIRE PRIVEE SAINT REMI). ^[3]

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

1 × Post office / agence postale (COURLAY CARTE D AURE RP). ^[3]

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHEQUE DE COURLAY). ^[3]

1 × Gym / sports hall (COMPLEXE SPORTIF ROBERT BOBIN). ^[3]

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

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

Not found in the commune: Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, GP (médecin généraliste). ^[3,4]

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	1		INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [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	3	CARTE D'AURE · CHEZ KALOU	INSEE BPE 3 / INSEE SIRENE 3 [3,4]
Café / bar	2	SAINT ELOI	INSEE SIRENE 2 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	1	ECOLE MATERNELLE PUBLIQUE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	2	ECOLE ELEMENTAIRE · ECOLE PRIMAIRE PRIVEE SAINT REMI	INSEE BPE 2 [3]
Collège	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
GP (médecin généraliste)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Pharmacy	1	PHARMACIE GOBIN	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	COURLAY CARTE D AURE RP	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Library	1	BIBLIOTHEQUE DE COURLAY	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Cinema	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Gym / sports hall	1	COMPLEXE SPORTIF ROBERT BOBIN	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Swimming pool	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Bank	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Hairdresser	2	SANDRINE COIFFURE	INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 4 [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: 2,205 peak 1990: 2,558 2023: 2,387 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 2,427 (2012) → 2,387 (2023): -1.6 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 2,558 (1990) → 2,387 (2023): -6.7 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 1,175, of which 3.5 % second homes and 8.2 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Bakery, Primary school, Pharmacy Food shop — 5.5 km SGP — 6.3 km S 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 (Courlay): 0.1 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre): 5.5 km to the south (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre): 6.3 km to the south (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Courlay): 0.1 km to the west (straight line). ^[8]

Primary school (Courlay): 0 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 15.9

Days at or below 0 °C 38

Muggy days a summer 2.4

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 16 days a year at or above 30 °C and 38 days at or below 0 °C, over 10 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[10]

Measured at the CIRIERE weather station, 7.3 km away at 200 m; the village itself is at 206 m. ^[10]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 2 days a summer. ^[10]

Humidity measured at BRESSUIRE, 7.8 km away at 191 m, over 30 summers. ^[10]

An average of 866 mm of rain a year, spread over 115 days — about 7.5 mm on a day it rains. ^[10]

Rainfall measured at MONCOUTANT-SPC, 5.8 km away at 181 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 — 79103/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 79103/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 79103/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 79103/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 79103
INSEE BPE 2025 — 79179
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
Villiers-en-Plaine	79	41 km S	1,806	39.7	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 77 % · winter 76 % · humidity 100 %
Maureilhan	34	478 km SE	2,495	53.4	Partly served	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 5 % · winter 80 % · humidity 50 %
Valleroy	54	554 km NE	2,375	40.8	Partly served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 61 % · humidity 93 %
Chirens	38	496 km E	2,546	50.8	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 67 % · winter 80 % · humidity 93 %
Firmi	12	334 km SE	2,318	47.6	Partly served	Warmer summers, similar winters.summer 38 % · winter 93 %
La Chapelle-Thouarault	35	179 km NW	2,304	38.8	Few services	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 82 % · winter 93 % · humidity 100 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Villiers-en-Plaine	79	41 km S	1,806	39.7	Few services	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 77 % · winter 76 % · humidity 100 %
La Chapelle-Thouarault	35	179 km NW	2,304	38.8	Few services	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 82 % · winter 93 % · humidity 100 %
Firmi	12	334 km SE	2,318	47.6	Partly served	Warmer summers, similar winters.summer 38 % · winter 93 %
Maureilhan	34	478 km SE	2,495	53.4	Partly served	Warmer summers and milder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 5 % · winter 80 % · humidity 50 %
Chirens	38	496 km E	2,546	50.8	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 67 % · winter 80 % · humidity 93 %
Valleroy	54	554 km NE	2,375	40.8	Partly served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 61 % · 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 Courlay'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
Scorbé-Clairvaux	86	75 km E	2,174	44.8	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 93 % · humidity 86 %
Attichy	60	397 km NE	1,857	41.8	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 93 % · humidity 100 %
Véron	89	328 km NE	1,849	38.4	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 89 % · humidity 100 %
Dissay	86	76 km E	3,101	38.7	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 99 % · humidity 100 %
La Possonnière	49	67 km N	2,501	53.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 97 % · humidity 100 %
Mommenheim	67	651 km NE	2,340	52.9	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 93 % · humidity 100 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/79103-courlay