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Carpi: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Carpi

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 Remesina Interna 1, Carpi.

Carpi, a vast piazza and a knitwear district

Arriving in Carpi for the first time, you come upon Piazza dei Martiri, one of the largest squares in Italy, framed by a long portico, the cathedral and the Palazzo dei Pio. Around the town a textile and knitwear district has grown up, known across the country and made of small and medium firms, some of which produce for major brands. Modena is about twenty kilometres away.

Carpi lies on the open plain, towards the border with the province of Reggio Emilia. The railway links it to Modena, and the Brenner motorway (A22) has a junction at Carpi, handy for anyone working in the nearby industrial districts. The outlying villages, such as Fossoli, Cortile and San Marino, are farming hamlets with scattered houses and smallholdings; Fossoli is also known for its Second World War concentration camp, now a memorial site.

The memory that stays with residents is the earthquake of May 2012, which damaged the cathedral, many churches and a good number of homes. Carpi is in seismic zone 3, like 39 other municipalities in the province, but the expected ground acceleration of about 0.153 g is not negligible. If you are buying a building from before 2012, ask whether it was repaired or strengthened with reconstruction grants and get copies of the paperwork.

The population is growing. Istat, the national statistics office, counted 72,523 residents in 2023, up 7.8% since 2011, with an average age of 45.9 and a share of over-65s (23.8%) close to the province. Foreign residents make up 14.8%. Average declared incomes are slightly below the provincial level.

The plain is crossed by drainage channels and the river Secchia flows a few kilometres away, so flood hazard varies between areas and is checked for the address. Winters are cold and foggy (climate zone E), which makes insulation and the heating system a real factor in running costs.

Key points

  • Piazza dei Martiri, Palazzo dei Pio and the knitwear district.
  • 2012 earthquake: ask about repairs and paperwork.
  • 72,523 residents, up 7.8% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration about 0.153 g.

Overview

Carpi is a municipality in the province of Modena, in Emilia-Romagna. At the end of 2023 it had 72,523 residents, the second most populous in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Carpi is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (40 of 47) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.153 g, a medium-high 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 7.8%. The estimated average age is 46 years, in line with the province. 24% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 14.8% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Carpi declared an average taxable income of 25,972 euros, below the provincial average (27,632 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Carpi is in climate zone E, with 2,246 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 26 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Carpi has 53 schools and 22 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 32 grocery shops and supermarkets, 52 healthcare facilities, 67 sports facilities and 9 parks and green areas.

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 16.8% of the land in Carpi, compared with 11.1% in the province and 9.0% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 2.4 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Carpi 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 7 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Carpi, and 5 more have 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 Carpi: 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 Carpi 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 895 inhabited census areas in Carpi. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 65 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 4.6%
  • fair 42.2%
  • good 53.2%

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 036005. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.