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Formazza: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Piemonte. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Formazza

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: Frazione Ponte 1, Formazza.

Formazza, the Walser valley at the top of Piedmont

At the head of the Val Formazza, on the Swiss border, Formazza lies at the far northern tip of Piedmont. It is split into small hamlets along the floor of the Toce valley, above twelve hundred metres, and keeps its Walser culture: wood and stone houses, German place names and a dialect brought here centuries ago by settlers from the Valais. A little further up the valley is the Toce waterfall, its best-known sight.

This is a place of real winters, in climate zone F, with heavy snow and a road that climbs up the valley from Domodossola. Tourism, hiking in summer and skiing in winter, supports much of the local economy, and many houses are second homes. Buyers should look at insulation, heating, how the roof copes with the weight of snow and whether the house can be reached in the cold months.

In 2023 there were 434 residents, just 1.8% fewer than in 2011. The estimated average age is 51.1, over-65s make up 31.1% and foreign residents 3.5%. Declared incomes are above the average for the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola.

Earthquake hazard is low: Formazza is in seismic zone 3 of the national classification kept by the Civil Protection Department, along with 27 other municipalities in the province, and the expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.081 g. In the mountains, avalanches, landslides and torrent floods matter more, and the report checks them on the official maps for the individual address.

Here too the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps, and the report traces the address back to its land parcel.

Key points

  • Walser municipality on the Swiss border, at the top of Val Formazza.
  • Population nearly steady: down only 1.8% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 3; landslides and torrents checked at the address.
  • Climate zone F: snow and heating weigh on running costs.

Overview

Formazza is a municipality in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 434 residents, ranked 52 of 74 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Formazza is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Only 28 of 74 municipalities in the province are in zone 3.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.081 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 1.8%. The estimated average age is 51 years, higher than the province average (49). 31% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 3.5% of the population. On average, a household has 1.9 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Formazza declared an average taxable income of 24,952 euros, above the provincial average (23,146 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Formazza is in climate zone F, with 3,968 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 1,280 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Formazza has 2 schools. The Overture Maps data also lists 2 grocery shops and supermarkets and 2 sports facilities.

The data shows no pharmacies within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.5 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 0.7% of the land in Formazza, compared with 2.8% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Formazza 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 no open contaminated sites in Formazza; one has been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Formazza: 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 Formazza 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 20 inhabited census areas in Formazza. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 60 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 78.5%
  • good 21.5%

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

ISTAT code 103031. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.