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Arborio: 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 Arborio

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: Corso Umberto Primo 1, Arborio.

Arborio, the village that gave its name to a rice

Anyone who cooks risotto already knows the name: Arborio rice is named after this village in the Vercelli plain, among paddy fields that flood in summer and turn into a chequerboard of water. Arborio lies in the plain north of Vercelli, not far from the Sesia river, in a flat landscape of farmsteads, canals and rows of poplars.

The economy still turns on rice and farming, and some residents work in Vercelli or in nearby industrial towns. Foreign residents make up 13.1%. Declared average income is below the provincial figure.

In 2023 Istat, the national statistics office, counted 839 residents, down 7.7% since 2011. The average age is 49.4 (48.4 for the province) and over-65s are 30.6%.

Buying in rice country brings issues you do not meet in the hills. The ground is wet and the water table close to the surface, so ground-floor walls, cellars and foundations should be checked for rising damp. Mosquitoes are part of summer life. Large farmsteads offer plenty of space, but restoration costs need careful sums.

Arborio is in seismic zone 4 of the Civil Protection classification, like 81 of the 82 municipalities in the province, with a very low expected ground acceleration of about 0.037 g. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) cadastral maps are published and the report goes from the address to the land parcel; near the Sesia and the canals, read the official flood maps for the individual plot.

Key points

  • Arborio rice is named after this village in the Vercelli plain.
  • Paddy fields, farmsteads and canals; foreign residents at 13.1%.
  • Seismic zone 4, expected acceleration about 0.037 g.
  • Rising damp and flooding to check house by house.

Overview

Arborio is a municipality in the province of Vercelli, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 839 residents, ranked 34 of 82 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Arborio 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 0.037 g, a low 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 7.7%. The estimated average age is 49 years, in line with the province. 31% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 13.1% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Arborio declared an average taxable income of 21,274 euros, below the provincial average (24,991 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Arborio is in climate zone E, with 2,545 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 October to 15 April, for up to 14 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 185 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Arborio has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 2 grocery shops and supermarkets and 1 sports facility.

The data shows no healthcare facilities within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.7 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 4.6% of the land in Arborio, 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

Arborio is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Piemonte in 2023. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list 2 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Arborio, and one more has been cleaned up or closed. The report tells you whether one is close to the address.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Arborio: 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 Arborio 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 17 inhabited census areas in Arborio. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 62 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 66.5%
  • good 33.5%

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 002006. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.