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Castano Primo: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Castano Primo

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: Piazza Giuseppe Mazzini 1, Castano Primo.

Castano Primo, between the Ticino and Malpensa airport

Malpensa airport is a few kilometres to the north and the river Ticino a little further west: Castano Primo sits in the north-western corner of the metropolitan area of Milan, close to the border with the province of Varese, and gives its name to the Castanese, the group of small towns around it. The centre has its town hall, square and shopping streets; around it are estates of detached houses and flats, workshops and the fields that slope down towards the Ticino park.

For anyone travelling to Milan every day, the train is the best option. Castano has a station on the Ferrovie Nord line between Saronno and Novara, and public transport data list 2 train and bus lines in the municipality; the ride to Milan is still a long one, though, so many people drive. For those who work around the airport, on the other hand, the commute is short.

The population is edging down. Istat, the national statistics office, recorded 10,811 residents in 2023, down 1.6% on 2011. The estimated average age is 46.4, above the 45.6 of the Milan area, and over-65s account for 24.5%. Foreign residents make up 11.7%. Average declared incomes are well below the metropolitan average, which Milan pushes very high, and house prices are a long way from the city's too.

Near a major airport, the question to ask is about noise. It depends on the take-off and landing routes and can vary a lot from one neighbourhood to another, so visit the house at different times of day.

Earthquakes are not a worry. Around Milan, 60 municipalities are in zone 3 of the Civil Protection classification and the other 73, Castano included, in zone 4, the lowest; the expected acceleration is about 0.038 g. In a house from the 1970s, what matters most with cold winters is insulation, windows and heating. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps, so the report traces the address to its plot and also checks flood hazard at the exact location.

Key points

  • Between the Ticino and Malpensa, in the north-west of the Milan area.
  • Ferrovie Nord station on the Saronno-Novara line.
  • 10,811 residents, down 1.6% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 4, the lowest, like 73 municipalities around Milan.

Overview

Castano Primo is a municipality in the province of Milano, in Lombardia. At the end of 2023 it had 10,811 residents, ranked 59 of 133 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Castano Primo is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. Most municipalities in the province (73 of 133) 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 1.6%. The estimated average age is 46 years, in line with the province. 25% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 11.7% of the population. On average, a household has 2.3 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Castano Primo declared an average taxable income of 26,372 euros, below the provincial average (33,635 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Castano Primo is in climate zone E, with 2,634 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 182 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Castano Primo has 7 schools and 3 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 6 grocery shops and supermarkets, 7 healthcare facilities, 5 sports facilities and 1 green area.

There are 0.6 grocery shops and supermarkets per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.3).

Public transport

Within the municipality there are 1 public transport stops, served by 1 bus line, 1 train line. That is about 0.1 stops per 1,000 residents.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 21.7% of the land in Castano Primo, compared with 32.0% in the province and 12.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 1.0 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Castano Primo is one of the municipalities designated as a radon priority area by the Regione Lombardia in 2023. 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 2 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Castano Primo, 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 Castano Primo: 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 Castano Primo 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 46 inhabited census areas in Castano Primo. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 75 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.3%
  • fair 7.6%
  • good 70.8%
  • very good 21.4%

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 015062. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.