Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Argenta: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Argenta

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: Via Fascinata 1, Argenta.

Argenta, wetlands and reclaimed plain between Ferrara and Ravenna

Argenta fills the south-eastern corner of the province of Ferrara, where the reclaimed plain meets the Ravenna area. The main town lies just a few metres above sea level, on the Adriatic trunk road and the railway between Ferrara and Ravenna, and around it stretches a very large municipal area of fields, drainage channels and scattered villages. To the south are the Valli di Campotto, wetlands near the river Reno protected as a nature reserve.

Buyers here choose between the main town, where shops, schools and services are concentrated, and the outlying villages, where detached houses with land are more common but a car is needed for almost everything. In such low-lying, water-crossed country the exact position matters: the height of the plot and its distance from rivers and channels change from one street to the next, and the report checks both for the precise address. Built-up land covers only a small part of the municipality, which keeps its farming landscape.

According to Istat, the national statistics office, there were 21,110 residents in 2023, down 4.6% on 2011, or 1,023 fewer people. Among the 21 municipalities of the province, Argenta ranks 4 by population. The average age of 49.0 matches the Ferrara area, one of the oldest in the region: over-65s make up 29.0%, against 24.7% for Emilia-Romagna as a whole. Foreign residents account for 12.6%, and declared incomes are a little below the provincial average.

On earthquakes, Argenta stands apart from the rest of the province. It is in seismic zone 2 of the Civil Protection classification, while 20 municipalities in the province are in zone 3, and the expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.159 g. On the soft soils of the lower plain shaking can be amplified, as Emilia saw in 2012, so for a masonry house or a converted farm building ask whether seismic improvement work has been done and under which design.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps here too, so the report goes from the address to the plot and its parcel number.

Key points

  • Reclaimed plain between Ferrara and Ravenna, with the Campotto wetlands.
  • 21,110 residents, down 4.6% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected ground acceleration about 0.159 g.
  • Over-65s at 29.0%, above the Emilia-Romagna average.

Overview

Argenta is a municipality in the province of Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna. At the end of 2023 it had 21,110 residents, ranked 4 of 21 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Argenta is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. It is the only municipality in the province in zone 2.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.159 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Argenta, the building matters a great deal: ask for the design year, whether it met the 2008 seismic standards, and whether any seismic retrofit has been carried out.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 4.6%. The estimated average age is 49 years, in line with the province. 29% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 12.6% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Argenta declared an average taxable income of 22,798 euros, below the provincial average (24,414 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Argenta is in climate zone E, with 2,414 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 4 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Argenta has 17 schools and 9 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 11 grocery shops and supermarkets, 5 healthcare facilities, 16 sports facilities and 7 parks and green areas.

There are 0.2 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.7).

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 5.1% of the land in Argenta, compared with 7.2% in the province and 9.0% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 22.4 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Argenta is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Emilia-Romagna in 2026. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list 6 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Argenta. 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 Argenta: 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 Argenta 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 135 inhabited census areas in Argenta. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 56 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 13.3%
  • fair 76.1%
  • good 10.6%

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 038001. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.