Nieul-le-Dolent

Vendée · CC du Pays des Achards · INSEE 85161

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

Partly served 56.9/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 85 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Nieul-le-Dolent (INSEE 85161) is in Vendée (85), part of CC du Pays des Achards. Population 2,571 (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/85161-nieul-le-dolent

Vitality score

Vitality score 56.9/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 85 % of the 8,072 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	0.26	25	6.56
Social	0.63	20	12.64
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0.63	10	6.29
Public & culture	0.39	5	1.97
Population trend	1	10	10
Housing mix	0.91	5	4.55

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 3 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 2 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 1 of 2

Sport 0 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]

1 × Bakery (boulangerie) (LE MORILLON OLIVIER). ^[3,4]

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

1 × Supermarket (PAULDISTRI). ^[3,4]

2 × Restaurant (CECE PIZZA · GAUDIN & CO). ^[3,4]

2 × Café / bar (LE VENDEEN). ^[4]

2 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE HENRI ROCA · ECOLE PRIMAIRE PRIVEE SAINT PIERRE). ^[3]

4 × GP (médecin généraliste) (ELIE ROCHETEAU, MÉDECIN · ANAÏS CAILLAUD, MÉDECIN · ÉLODIE COSSET, MÉDECIN · PAULINE MÊMETEAU, MÉDECIN). ^[3]

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

1 × Post office / agence postale (LA POSTE). ^[3]

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE DE NIEUL LE DOLENT). ^[3]

2 × Bank (CAISSE FEDERALE DU CREDIT MUTUEL OCEAN · CAISSE DE CREDIT MUTUEL NIEUL LE DOLENT). ^[3]

3 × Hairdresser (LA BELLE COUPE DE SEVERINE · CANELLE CREATION COIFFURE · LOOK E'STYLE). ^[3,4]

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

1 × Campsite (CAMPING LES SORINIÈRES). ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette), 3 × Restaurant.

Not found in the commune: Butcher (boucherie), Nursery school (maternelle). ^[4,3]

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	1	LE MORILLON OLIVIER	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Butcher (boucherie)	0		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Grocery (épicerie / supérette)	1		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [3,4]
Supermarket	1	PAULDISTRI	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Cheese shop (fromagerie)	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [4]
Fishmonger	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Restaurant	2	CECE PIZZA · GAUDIN & CO	INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 4 [3,4]
Café / bar	2	LE VENDEEN	INSEE SIRENE 2 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	2	ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE HENRI ROCA · ECOLE PRIMAIRE PRIVEE SAINT PIERRE	INSEE BPE 2 [3]
Collège	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
GP (médecin généraliste)	4	ELIE ROCHETEAU, MÉDECIN · ANAÏS CAILLAUD, MÉDECIN · ÉLODIE COSSET, MÉDECIN · PAULINE MÊMETEAU, MÉDECIN	INSEE BPE 4 [3]
Pharmacy	1	PHARMACIE BELBEOCH NEAU	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	LA POSTE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Library	1	BIBLIOTHÈQUE DE NIEUL LE DOLENT	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	2	CAISSE FEDERALE DU CREDIT MUTUEL OCEAN · CAISSE DE CREDIT MUTUEL NIEUL LE DOLENT	INSEE BPE 2 [3]
Hairdresser	3	LA BELLE COUPE DE SEVERINE · CANELLE CREATION COIFFURE · LOOK E'STYLE	INSEE BPE 3 / INSEE SIRENE 5 [3,4]
Fuel station	1	STATION SERVICE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Hotel	0		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Campsite	1	CAMPING LES SORINIÈRES	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]

Market and village life

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

Trajectory

1968: 1,278 2023: 2,571 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 2,363 (2012) → 2,571 (2023): 8.8 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 1,714 (1990) → 2,571 (2023): 50 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 1,206, of which 4.5 % second homes and 4.7 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Food shop, Primary school, GP Pharmacy — 0.5 km SWBakery — 1.6 km SE 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 (Nieul-le-Dolent): 1.6 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Nieul-le-Dolent): 0.4 km to the south (straight line). ^[8]

GP (Nieul-le-Dolent): 0.3 km to the east (straight line). ^[8]

Pharmacy (Nieul-le-Dolent): 0.5 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[8]

Primary school (Nieul-le-Dolent): 0.1 km to the north (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 13.4

Days at or below 0 °C 25.2

Muggy days a summer 2.3

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 13 days a year at or above 30 °C and 25 days at or below 0 °C, over 30 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[9]

Measured at the LA MOTHE ACHARD weather station, 10.9 km away at 58 m; the village itself is at 71 m. ^[9]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 2 days a summer. ^[9]

Humidity measured at LA ROCHE SUR YON, 17.4 km away at 88 m, over 30 summers. ^[9]

An average of 923 mm of rain a year, spread over 126 days — about 7.3 mm on a day it rains. ^[9]

Rainfall measured at LA MOTHE ACHARD, 10.9 km away at 58 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 — 85161/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 85161/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 85161/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 85161/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 85161
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
Villenauxe-la-Grande	10	441 km NE	2,605	50.4	Partly served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 66 % · humidity 93 %
Villaines-la-Juhel	53	217 km NE	2,671	55.4	Partly served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 66 % · humidity 93 %
Caulnes	22	197 km N	2,501	53.2	Partly served	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 82 % · winter 95 % · humidity 93 %
Soual	81	440 km SE	2,637	56	Partly served	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 28 % · winter 97 % · humidity 29 %
Saint-Varent	79	103 km E	2,395	52.5	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.summer 72 % · winter 81 %
Josselin	56	172 km NW	2,584	66.2	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Saint-Varent	79	103 km E	2,395	52.5	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.summer 72 % · winter 81 %
Josselin	56	172 km NW	2,584	66.2	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %
Caulnes	22	197 km N	2,501	53.2	Partly served	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 82 % · winter 95 % · humidity 93 %
Villaines-la-Juhel	53	217 km NE	2,671	55.4	Partly served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 66 % · humidity 93 %
Soual	81	440 km SE	2,637	56	Partly served	Warmer summers, similar winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 28 % · winter 97 % · humidity 29 %
Villenauxe-la-Grande	10	441 km NE	2,605	50.4	Partly served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 66 % · 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 Nieul-le-Dolent'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
Josselin	56	172 km NW	2,584	66.2	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 91 % · humidity 93 %
La Châtaigneraie	85	59 km E	2,600	57	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 100 % · humidity 100 %
Bais	35	161 km N	2,539	52	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 88 % · humidity 100 %
Avelin	59	555 km NE	2,561	60.6	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 86 % · humidity 93 %
Beaulieu-sous-la-Roche	85	14 km NW	2,421	55.7	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 100 % · humidity 100 %
Saint-Christophe-du-Ligneron	85	34 km NW	2,727	53.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 85 % · humidity 100 %

Elsewhere

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

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/85161-nieul-le-dolent