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Bra: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Bra

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 Vittorio Emanuele Secondo di Savoia 1, Bra.

Bra, between the Roero hills and the plain, with Pollenzo

Bra sits where the Roero hills come down to the Cuneo plain, with Alba about fifteen kilometres away and Turin roughly an hour off. It is a town of services and small industry, best known for food: Slow Food was founded here, and the University of Gastronomic Sciences is based in the village of Pollenzo, near the river Tanaro, which is part of Bra. The centre has Baroque churches and palazzi, and an upper part on the hill that looks out over the plain.

For anyone working in Turin the railway matters: trains on the Turin metropolitan rail service start from Bra and run via Carmagnola. Within the municipality the differences are marked. There are flats in the centre and in the districts that grew around it, detached houses on the hill with steep roads, and scattered houses on the plain, out to Pollenzo and the areas near the river.

Unlike many Piedmont towns, Bra is growing: 29,730 residents in 2023, up 2.7% on 2011, according to Istat, Italy's national statistics office. It ranks number 3 by population in a province of 247 municipalities. The estimated average age of 45.8 is slightly below the province (46.3), and foreign residents make up 13.0%, a high share for the area. Average incomes are above the Cuneo provincial figure.

Bra is in seismic zone 3, like 141 municipalities in the province; the other 106 are in the lowest class. Expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.054 g, a low value. In the historic centre it is worth asking about work on roofs and floors; in blocks from the 1960s and 1970s insulation and heating systems weigh more, as winters here are cold (climate zone E).

Near the Tanaro, flood hazard needs checking, as does landslide hazard on the Roero slopes: the report does this for the individual address.

Key points

  • Birthplace of Slow Food; University of Gastronomic Sciences at Pollenzo.
  • 29,730 residents, up 2.7% since 2011.
  • Metropolitan rail service trains to Turin.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration about 0.054 g.

Overview

Bra is a municipality in the province of Cuneo, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 29,730 residents, the third most populous in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Bra is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (141 of 247) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.054 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

Even in zone 3, seismic standards apply to new buildings: for an older building, ask about the design year and any structural work.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has grown by 2.7%. The estimated average age is 46 years, in line with the province. 25% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 13.0% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Bra declared an average taxable income of 25,999 euros, in line with the province (24,913 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Bra is in climate zone E, with 2,614 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 290 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Bra has 25 schools and 8 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 29 grocery shops and supermarkets, 18 healthcare facilities, 21 sports facilities and 4 parks and green areas.

There are 0.3 pharmacies per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.4).

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 16.1% of the land in Bra, compared with 5.3% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 3.4 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Bra 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 Bra, 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 Bra: 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 Bra 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 228 inhabited census areas in Bra. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 65 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 5.0%
  • fair 44.3%
  • good 50.7%

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 004029. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.