Casole d'Elsa: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Siena, Toscana. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
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Search for an address in Casole d'Elsa
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 San Donato 1, Casole d'Elsa.
Casole d'Elsa, the walled hill town of the upper Val d'Elsa
Casole d'Elsa is a walled village on a hill in the upper Val d'Elsa, in the province of Siena, where cultivated hills give way to woods towards the Colline Metallifere. The municipality is large and thinly populated, with small villages, scattered farms, vineyards, olive groves and wheat fields. Colle di Val d'Elsa is the nearest town for services and work, and Siena and Florence can be reached by car.
The Casole countryside has long attracted Italian and foreign buyers looking for a Tuscan farmhouse. The market combines houses in the old town, flats in restored hamlets and farms with land, sometimes converted into farm stays or holiday homes. For a farmhouse, the checks cover the planning status of extensions and outbuildings, access along unsurfaced roads, water supply from a well or the mains, and drainage. Average declared incomes are slightly below the provincial level.
In 2023 there were 3,721 residents, down 4.2% on 2011 according to Istat, the national statistics office. The average age of 46.3 is lower than the provincial 47.6, and over-65s make up 23.4% against 26.9% in the province. Foreign residents account for 7.8%.
Casole is in seismic zone 3 of the Civil Protection classification, with an expected ground acceleration in the built-up area of about 0.141 g; in the province of Siena, 31 municipalities are in zone 3 and 4 in zone 2. For stone farmhouses, often altered several times, an engineer's check of walls and floors is money well spent. With the town hall above 400 metres and climate zone E, winters are cold.
The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps. The hills have clay slopes and gullies, so gradient and landslide maps are read for each individual farm.
Key points
- Walled hill town in the upper Val d'Elsa.
- 3,721 residents in 2023, over-65s at 23.4%.
- Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration about 0.141 g.
- Farmhouses: check extensions, unsurfaced roads, water and drainage.
Overview
Casole d'Elsa is a municipality in the province of Siena, in Toscana. At the end of 2023 it had 3,721 residents, ranked 20 of 35 municipalities in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Casole d'Elsa is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (31 of 35) are in the same zone.
In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.141 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 fallen by 4.2%. The estimated average age is 46 years, in line with the province. 23% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 26%). Foreign residents make up 7.8% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Casole d'Elsa declared an average taxable income of 24,279 euros, in line with the province (25,404 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Casole d'Elsa is in climate zone E, with 2,105 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 417 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Casole d'Elsa has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 healthcare facility and 1 green area.
The data shows no grocery shops and supermarkets within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.6 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 2.7% of the land in Casole d'Elsa, compared with 4.0% in the province and 6.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.8 hectares.
Radon and contaminated sites
Casole d'Elsa is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Toscana in 2025. According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is low. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.
Official databases list one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Casole d'Elsa, 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 Casole d'Elsa: 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 Casole d'Elsa 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 56 inhabited census areas in Casole d'Elsa. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 66 or more.
Residents by band
- modest 0.6%
- fair 45.9%
- good 53.5%
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
- Seismic classification of municipalities, Dipartimento della Protezione Civile. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 2025-05.
- MPS04 seismic hazard model, INGV. Licence CC BY 4.0, 2004 model.
- Data by census section, Istat. Licence CC BY 4.0, residents at the end of 2023, compared with the 2011 census.
- Places, Overture Maps Foundation. Licence CDLA Permissive 2.0 and others depending on provider, release 2026-10-21.0.
- Income and main IRPEF variables by municipality, MEF, Dipartimento delle Finanze. Licence CC BY 3.0 IT, tax year 2024.
- Climate zones and heating degree days of municipalities (Presidential Decree 412/1993, Annex A), Normattiva. Licence CC BY 4.0, current text.
- Land take, territorial dynamics and ecosystem services, ISPRA e SNPA. Licence CC BY 4.0, 2024 data.
- Predictive radon map by municipality, ISPRA. Licence CC BY 4.0, version 2022-11.
- Radon priority areas (Legislative Decree 101/2020), Regione Toscana, national list compiled by ARPA Lombardia. Licence Atto pubblico (art. 5 L. 633/1941), 2025.
- Contaminated sites, ISPRA, MOSAICO - Banca dati nazionale dei siti oggetto di procedimento di bonifica. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 12 November 2026.
- Liveability index by census area, Vicinalia, from the data in the report sections. Licence CC BY-SA 4.0, worked out on 30 September 2026.
- List of Italian municipalities, Istat. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 21 February 2026.
ISTAT code 052004. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.