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Cento: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Cento

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 Chiesa 1, Cento.

Cento, Guercino's home town on the bank of the Reno

Cento sits in the south-west corner of the province of Ferrara, halfway between Ferrara, Bologna and Modena, with the river Reno separating it from Pieve di Cento. It is the birthplace of the painter Guercino, has an arcaded centre with a fortress (the Rocca) and a carnival known across the region. Around it lies farmland and industry, with outlying villages such as Renazzo and Casumaro.

The earthquake of May 2012 hit Cento too, damaging churches, buildings in the centre and industrial sheds. Reconstruction made many buildings safer, but not all of them. The Civil Protection Department places the town in seismic zone 3, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.156 g, high for that class. Before buying, ask whether the property was damaged in 2012, what work was funded by reconstruction grants and whether any claims are still open.

The population grows slowly (35,391 residents in 2023 according to Istat, the national statistics office, up 1.9% on 2011) but is much younger than the rest of the province, one of the oldest in Italy: a mean age of 45.5 against 49.2, and 23.1% over 65 against 28.9%. Foreign residents make up 11.3%. Cento ranks number 2 in the province by population, and declared incomes are above the provincial average.

People working in Bologna or Modena nearly always commute by car. In town there are flats in the arcaded centre and in districts built from the 1960s onwards; in the villages, mostly detached and semi-detached houses with gardens.

The land is entirely flat, about fifteen metres above sea level, and criss-crossed by drainage canals. Flood hazard depends on how close you are to the Reno and the canals, and is checked at the address together with the land parcel in the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps.

Key points

  • Guercino's birthplace, between Ferrara, Bologna and Modena, on the Reno.
  • Seismic zone 3, acceleration about 0.156 g: ask about 2012 damage.
  • Over-65s at 23.1%, well below the provincial 28.9%.
  • 35,391 residents, up 1.9% since 2011.

Overview

Cento is a municipality in the province of Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna. At the end of 2023 it had 35,391 residents, the second most populous in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Cento is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (20 of 21) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.156 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 1.9%. The estimated average age is 45 years, lower than the province average (49). 23% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 11.3% of the population. On average, a household has 2.3 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Cento declared an average taxable income of 26,049 euros, above the provincial average (24,414 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Cento is in climate zone E, with 2,294 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 15 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Cento has 34 schools and 11 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 19 grocery shops and supermarkets, 26 healthcare facilities, 20 sports facilities and 10 parks and green areas.

There are 1.0 schools per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.8).

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 18.9% of the land in Cento, compared with 7.2% in the province and 9.0% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 2.5 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Cento 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 8 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Cento, and 9 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 Cento: 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 Cento 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 147 inhabited census areas in Cento. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 60 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 1.0%
  • fair 77.9%
  • good 21.0%

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 038004. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.