Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Gerola Alta: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Gerola Alta

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 Fenile 1, Gerola Alta.

Gerola Alta, at the head of the Val Gerola above Morbegno

Down the Val Gerola, towards Morbegno and the river Adda, runs the Bitto stream, which gives its name to a mountain cheese known throughout Italy. Gerola Alta is the last municipality up the valley, above a thousand metres, with its main village, a few stone hamlets and, higher up, Pescegallo with its ski lifts. This is a side valley of the Valtellina, tucked between the peaks of the Orobie range.

For everyday services people go down to Morbegno, which has shops, schools, a hospital and a railway station on the line to Sondrio and Milan. The valley road is long, with many hairpins, and anyone planning to live here full time should bear that in mind, especially in winter. For a second home for the summer or the ski season, that matters less. In climate zone F, on an older house, insulation, windows and the boiler matter as much as the view.

In 2023 Istat, Italy's national statistics office, counted 165 residents, 24 fewer than the 189 of 2011, a fall of 12.7%. The estimated average age is 54.0, against 46.8 in the province of Sondrio, and over-65s make up 34.5%. Declared incomes are slightly below the provincial average.

Gerola Alta is in seismic zone 3 on the Civil Protection Department's scale, like 64 of the 77 municipalities in the province, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.050 g. In an Alpine valley like this one the more concrete risks come from slopes and streams in spate, and the report checks the official landslide and flood maps at the precise address. Revenue Agency cadastral maps are published, so the report can also trace the land parcel.

Key points

  • Municipality at the head of the Val Gerola, off the Valtellina, above Morbegno.
  • 165 residents in 2023, down 12.7% since 2011.
  • Average age 54.0, against 46.8 in the province.
  • Seismic zone 3, like 64 municipalities in the province.

Overview

Gerola Alta is a municipality in the province of Sondrio, in Lombardia. At the end of 2023 it had 165 residents, among the smallest in the province (74 of 77).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Gerola Alta is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (64 of 77) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.050 g, a low 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 12.7%. The estimated average age is 54 years, higher than the province average (47). 35% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 1.2% of the population. On average, a household has 1.6 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Gerola Alta declared an average taxable income of 22,652 euros, in line with the province (23,822 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Gerola Alta is in climate zone F, with 3,561 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 1,050 metres above sea level.

Services

In the Overture Maps data, Gerola Alta has 1 sports facility.

The data shows no schools within the municipality, against a provincial average of 1.2 per 1,000 residents.

Public transport

The open timetables available for the area do not list any stops within the territory of Gerola Alta.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 1.4% of the land in Gerola Alta, compared with 2.7% in the province and 12.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Gerola Alta 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 no contaminated sites in Gerola Alta.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Gerola Alta: 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 Gerola Alta 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 7 inhabited census areas in Gerola Alta. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 57 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 100.0%

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 014031. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.