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Alto Sermenza: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Vercelli, Piemonte. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Alto Sermenza

The report looks at the exact point: landslide and flood risk, seismic zone, price per square metre for the area, services and nearby stops.

For example: Localita' Rima 1, Alto Sermenza.

Alto Sermenza, Rima and Rimasco at the head of the Val Sermenza

Alto Sermenza is a young municipality, created in 2018 by merging Rima San Giuseppe and Rimasco, two villages in the upper Val Sermenza, a side valley of the Valsesia. The name describes the area well: it covers the highest part of the valley, with conifer woods, summer pastures and mountains rising above three thousand metres towards Monte Rosa. Rima, at the head of the valley, is a Walser settlement, with timber and stone houses built by German-speaking settlers who reached the Valsesia in the Middle Ages.

People buying here want real mountains: long snowy winters, a single road up the valley and services some way off. For schools, shops and healthcare, residents go down to Varallo and the rest of the Valsesia. Walser and stone houses may be protected, and are delicate to restore in any case, so check with the town hall on landscape constraints and building rules before making plans.

Istat, the national statistics office, counted 140 residents in 2023, 26.3% fewer than the 190 recorded in 2011 in the two former municipalities. Over-65s make up 41.4% and the average age is 56.6, against 48.4 in the province of Vercelli. Declared incomes are in line with the provincial average.

Seismic hazard is low: Alto Sermenza is in zone 4 of the national classification, like 81 of the 82 municipalities in the province, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.062 g. In an Alpine valley, slopes and mountain streams matter more, and the report checks them on the official maps.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) cadastral maps also cover the hamlets of the two former municipalities, and from the address the report traces the land parcel.

Key points

  • Municipality formed in 2018 from Rima San Giuseppe and Rimasco.
  • Rima is a Walser settlement at the head of the Val Sermenza.
  • 140 residents in 2023, over-65s at 41.4%.
  • Seismic zone 4, like 81 municipalities in the province.

Overview

Alto Sermenza is a municipality in the province of Vercelli, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 140 residents, among the smallest in the province (73 of 82).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Alto Sermenza is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. Most municipalities in the province (81 of 82) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.062 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

In zone 4 the risk is low, but for an older building it is still worth asking about the state of the structure.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 26.3%. The estimated average age is 57 years, higher than the province average (48). 41% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 1.4% of the population. On average, a household has 1.5 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Alto Sermenza declared an average taxable income of 24,721 euros, in line with the province (24,991 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Alto Sermenza is in climate zone F, with 4,139 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 1,411 metres above sea level.

Services

In the Overture Maps data, Alto Sermenza has 1 green area.

The data shows no schools within the municipality, against a provincial average of 1.1 per 1,000 residents.

Public transport

We do not yet have open public transport timetables for this municipality: the report says so explicitly, without inventing distances.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 0.5% of the land in Alto Sermenza, compared with 5.0% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Alto Sermenza is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Piemonte in 2023. According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is medium. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Alto Sermenza.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Alto Sermenza: the report checks the address against the ISPRA maps.

House prices

The Revenue Agency's price ranges per square metre (OMI) apply to zones, not to whole municipalities: the report gives the range for the address's zone.

Land registry

The cadastral maps for Alto Sermenza are public: from the address the report finds the sheet and parcel number.

Liveability area by area

The Vicinalia liveability index runs from 0 to 100 and looks at the place, not the people who live there: services within walking distance, transport, green space, natural hazards, air, quiet, buildings and connection. Here it is worked out at the centre of each of the 16 inhabited census areas in Alto Sermenza. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 58 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 100.0%

Vicinalia index by census area, licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Data: IdroGEO ISPRA (2026), Istat, INGV, EEA, AGCOM, Overture Maps and OpenStreetMap.

The colour is the value at the centre of the area. For an exact address, search for it above: the free check looks at that exact point. How the index is worked out

Data sources

ISTAT code 002170. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.