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Balocco: 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 Balocco

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 Roma 1, Balocco.

Balocco, the Vercelli plain and Alfa Romeo's test track

Car enthusiasts know Balocco for the test track Alfa Romeo built within its boundaries, now used by the Stellantis group. Otherwise it is a small farming municipality on the plain around Vercelli, in Piedmont, at about a hundred and sixty metres, with a compact centre, farmsteads and fields all around. Vercelli is the reference for hospital, offices and secondary schools.

The track and its facilities take up part of the municipal territory. If you are buying, find out where the house stands in relation to the track and its service roads. On the plain, the most useful check is flooding: the report looks at the official maps of areas that can be flooded for the address.

According to Istat, Italy's national statistics office, there were 214 residents in 2023, against 239 in 2011, a fall of 10.5%. The estimated average age is 50.2, close to the 48.4 of the province of Vercelli, and over-65s make up 29.4%. Households have 2.08 members on average. Declared incomes are below the provincial average.

Homes for sale are mostly village houses and parts of farmsteads; in a farmstead shared between several owners, clarify common areas, access and drains before completion. Winters are cold and foggy (climate zone E). Earthquake hazard is low: Balocco is in zone 4 on the Civil Protection Department's scale, like 81 of the 82 municipalities in the province, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.038 g. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps, and the report links the address to its land parcel.

Key points

  • Farming municipality on the Vercelli plain, home to Alfa Romeo's test track.
  • 214 residents in 2023, down 10.5% since 2011.
  • On the plain, flooding is the key check.
  • Seismic zone 4, expected acceleration about 0.038 g.

Overview

Balocco is a municipality in the province of Vercelli, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 214 residents, ranked 66 of 82 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Balocco 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 0.038 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 10.5%. The estimated average age is 50 years, higher than the province average (48). 29% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 4.2% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Balocco declared an average taxable income of 20,947 euros, below the provincial average (24,991 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Balocco is in climate zone E, with 2,520 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 166 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Balocco has 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 2 sports facilities.

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 12.4% of the land in Balocco, compared with 5.0% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 6.4 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Balocco 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 no contaminated sites in Balocco.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Balocco: 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 Balocco 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 10 inhabited census areas in Balocco. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 55 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 1.4%
  • fair 98.6%

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 002009. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.