La Mothe-Saint-Héray

Deux-Sèvres · CC Mellois en Poitou · INSEE 79184

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

Partly served 56.4/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 88 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

La Mothe-Saint-Héray (INSEE 79184) is in Deux-Sèvres (79), part of CC Mellois en Poitou. Population 1,652 (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.

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/79184-la-mothe-saint-heray

Vitality score

Vitality score 56.4/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 88 % of the 10,916 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	0.34	25	8.55
Social	0.75	20	14.97
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0.78	10	7.75
Public & culture	0.39	5	1.97
Population trend	0.39	10	3.9
Housing mix	0.89	5	4.46

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 3 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 3 of 3

Health 2 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 1 of 2

Sport 1 of 2

Everyday services 3 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”.

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

2 × Bakery (boulangerie) (LES DELICES DE MARIE ET SEB · L'AMIE DE PAIN). ^[3,4]

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

1 × Supermarket (CARREFOUR CONTACT). ^[3,4]

4 × Restaurant (LA TERRASSE · LA TROIS P'PIZZ · LES TROIS P'PIZZ). ^[3,4]

2 × Café / bar (LE COMMERCE). ^[4]

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

2 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE PRIMAIRE · ECOLE PRIMAIRE PRIVEE SAINTE MARIE). ^[3]

1 × Collège (COLLEGE DE L'ORANGERIE). ^[3]

5 × GP (médecin généraliste) (ZOÉ MICHEL, MÉDECIN · EMMANUELLE BRIN, MÉDECIN · GWENAELLE FARCY, MÉDECIN · AURELIE DESILES, MÉDECIN · MARIE ROCHEPEAU, MÉDECIN). ^[3]

2 × Pharmacy (PHARMACIE MOTHAISE · PHARMACIE LES ROSIERES). ^[3,4]

1 × Post office / agence postale (LA MOTHE ST HERAY LPAC AP). ^[3]

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHEQUE MUNICIPALE). ^[3]

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

3 × Bank (CAISSE FEDERALE DU CREDIT MUTUEL OCEAN · CAISSE REG CREDIT AGRICOLE MUTUEL 17-79 · CAISSE LOCALE DE CREDIT AGRICOLE MUTUEL). ^[3]

3 × Hairdresser (ROMANCE COIFFURE · LES CISEAUX DE JUJU). ^[3,4]

1 × Fuel station (STATION SERVICE). ^[3]

1 × Campsite (CAMPING MUNICIPAL DU FOUILLOUX). ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Bakery (boulangerie), 1 × Butcher (boucherie), 2 × Restaurant, 1 × Hairdresser.

Not found in the commune: Butcher (boucherie). ^[3]

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	2	LES DELICES DE MARIE ET SEB · L'AMIE DE PAIN	INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]
Butcher (boucherie)	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Grocery (épicerie / supérette)	1	COOP LA MOTHAISE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]
Supermarket	1	CARREFOUR CONTACT	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]
Cheese shop (fromagerie)	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [4]
Fishmonger	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Restaurant	4	LA TERRASSE · LA TROIS P'PIZZ · LES TROIS P'PIZZ	INSEE BPE 4 / INSEE SIRENE 6 [3,4]
Café / bar	2	LE COMMERCE	INSEE SIRENE 2 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	1	ECOLE MATERNELLE PUBLIQUE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	2	ECOLE PRIMAIRE · ECOLE PRIMAIRE PRIVEE SAINTE MARIE	INSEE BPE 2 [3]
Collège	1	COLLEGE DE L'ORANGERIE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
GP (médecin généraliste)	5	ZOÉ MICHEL, MÉDECIN · EMMANUELLE BRIN, MÉDECIN · GWENAELLE FARCY, MÉDECIN · AURELIE DESILES, MÉDECIN · MARIE ROCHEPEAU, MÉDECIN	INSEE BPE 5 [3]
Pharmacy	2	PHARMACIE MOTHAISE · PHARMACIE LES ROSIERES	INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]
Nurse	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Dentist	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Post office / agence postale	1	LA MOTHE ST HERAY LPAC AP	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Library	1	BIBLIOTHEQUE MUNICIPALE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Cinema	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Gym / sports hall	1	COMPLEXE SPORTIF	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Swimming pool	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Bank	3	CAISSE FEDERALE DU CREDIT MUTUEL OCEAN · CAISSE REG CREDIT AGRICOLE MUTUEL 17-79 · CAISSE LOCALE DE CREDIT AGRICOLE MUTUEL	INSEE BPE 3 [3]
Hairdresser	3	ROMANCE COIFFURE · LES CISEAUX DE JUJU	INSEE BPE 3 / INSEE SIRENE 4 [3,4]
Fuel station	1	STATION SERVICE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Hotel	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Campsite	1	CAMPING MUNICIPAL DU FOUILLOUX	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

1968: 2,004 2023: 1,652 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 1,774 (2012) → 1,652 (2023): -6.9 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 1,857 (1990) → 1,652 (2023): -11 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 912, of which 5.4 % second homes and 15 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Bakery, Food shop, Primary school, Pharmacy GP — 0.6 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 (La Mothe-Saint-Héray): 0.1 km to the south (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (La Mothe-Saint-Héray): 0.1 km to the south (straight line). ^[8]

GP (La Mothe-Saint-Héray): 0.6 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[8]

Pharmacy (La Mothe-Saint-Héray): 0 km to the north (straight line). ^[8]

Primary school (La Mothe-Saint-Héray): 0.2 km to the east (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 24.4

Days at or below 0 °C 29.1

Muggy days a summer 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 24 days a year at or above 30 °C and 29 days at or below 0 °C, over 15 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[9]

Measured at the SAINT-MAIXENT-L-ECOLE_SAPC weather station, 9.8 km away at 83 m; the village itself is at 76 m. ^[9]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 4 days a summer. ^[9]

Humidity measured at MELLE, 14.3 km away at 136 m, over 30 summers. ^[9]

That station sits 60 m above the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 5.46 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. ^[9]

An average of 933 mm of rain a year, spread over 127 days — about 7.3 mm on a day it rains. ^[9]

Rainfall measured at ST-MAIXENT-L EC, 9.5 km away at 80 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[9]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 79184/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 79184/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 79184/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 79184/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 79184
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
L'Isle-en-Dodon	31	340 km S	1,614	52.6	Partly served	no figures
L'Île-Bouchard	37	94 km NE	1,606	58.8	Partly served	Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 85 % · winter 84 % · humidity 93 %
Étang-sur-Arroux	71	333 km E	1,750	52.5	Partly served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 90 % · winter 66 % · humidity 79 %
Castelmoron-sur-Lot	47	224 km S	1,842	47	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 44 % · winter 80 % · humidity 57 %
Nantiat	87	107 km E	1,580	44	Partly served	Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 82 % · winter 76 % · humidity 86 %
Châlus	87	116 km SE	1,683	55.9	Partly served	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 69 % · winter 86 % · humidity 86 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
L'Île-Bouchard	37	94 km NE	1,606	58.8	Partly served	Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 85 % · winter 84 % · humidity 93 %
Nantiat	87	107 km E	1,580	44	Partly served	Cooler summers and colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 82 % · winter 76 % · humidity 86 %
Châlus	87	116 km SE	1,683	55.9	Partly served	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 69 % · winter 86 % · humidity 86 %
Castelmoron-sur-Lot	47	224 km S	1,842	47	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 44 % · winter 80 % · humidity 57 %
Étang-sur-Arroux	71	333 km E	1,750	52.5	Partly served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel drier.summer 90 % · winter 66 % · humidity 79 %
L'Isle-en-Dodon	31	340 km S	1,614	52.6	Partly served	no figures

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 La Mothe-Saint-Héray'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
Saint-Pons-de-Thomières	34	391 km SE	1,706	60.2	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 95 % · humidity 93 %
Lussac-les-Châteaux	86	65 km E	2,263	59.7	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 96 % · humidity 93 %
Vergt	24	162 km SE	1,773	67.5	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 95 % · humidity 86 %
Saint-Germain-du-Puch	33	168 km S	2,304	54.8	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 85 % · humidity 86 %
Cancon	47	211 km S	1,379	55.7	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 89 % · humidity 93 %
Biars-sur-Cère	46	220 km SE	1,957	58.9	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 86 % · humidity 86 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/79184-la-mothe-saint-heray