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Balvano: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Balvano

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 Giuseppe Garibaldi 1, Balvano.

Balvano, Lucanian hills on the road from Potenza to Salerno

Balvano lies in the western part of the province of Potenza, on hills that slope down towards the border with Campania. The village is close to the motorway link road that connects Potenza with the A2 Mediterranean motorway at Sicignano, a useful link for anyone working in Potenza or around Salerno.

Many houses were rebuilt or repaired after the 1980 earthquake, so reinforced masonry and concrete houses stand next to what remains of older buildings. For any house, ask for the paperwork on the rebuilding or on works funded with public grants, as it tells you a lot about how the building was redone. Outside the village there are scattered houses and farmland, often on sloping ground.

Istat, the national statistics office, counts 1,692 residents in 2023, down 9.1% from 1,861 in 2011. The average age is 47.5, almost identical to the provincial figure of 47.3, with over-65s at 26.9% and foreign residents at 2.9%. Households have 2.38 people on average and declared incomes are a little above the provincial average.

Balvano is in seismic zone 1, the highest class in the Civil Protection classification, like 39 other municipalities in the province, while 59 are in zone 2. The expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is 0.256 g. The report checks the official landslide maps for the exact address, useful on the clay slopes of the area, and finds the parcel on the cadastral maps published by the Revenue Agency.

Key points

  • Lucanian hills near the Potenza to A2 link road.
  • Seismic zone 1, expected acceleration 0.256 g.
  • Population down 9.1% since 2011.
  • Houses rebuilt with public grants: ask for the works paperwork.

Overview

Balvano is a municipality in the province of Potenza, in Basilicata. At the end of 2023 it had 1,692 residents, ranked 51 of 100 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Balvano is in seismic zone 1, the highest-risk zone, where very strong earthquakes are possible. The region uses a finer breakdown: here the classification is 1a. Only 40 of 100 municipalities in the province are in zone 1.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.256 g, a high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Balvano, 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 9.1%. The estimated average age is 48 years, in line with the province. 27% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 2.9% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Balvano declared an average taxable income of 21,428 euros, above the provincial average (20,337 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Balvano is in climate zone D, with 1,682 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 November to 15 April, for up to 12 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 425 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Balvano has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy.

The data shows no grocery shops and supermarkets within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.8 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 6.4% of the land in Balvano, compared with 3.5% in the province and 3.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

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 Balvano.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Balvano: 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 Balvano 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 Balvano. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 60 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 5.7%
  • fair 94.3%

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 076008. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.