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Malesco: 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 Malesco

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 Papa Giovanni Ventitreesimo 1, Malesco.

Malesco, the Vigezzo valley and the railway to Locarno

The Vigezzina, the narrow-gauge line linking Domodossola to Locarno through the Vigezzo valley and the Centovalli, also stops at Malesco. The village lies in the upper part of the valley, at just under eight hundred metres, among meadows and woods, and includes the hamlet of Finero, on the road down towards the Cannobina valley. Part of its land lies within the Val Grande National Park, an almost uninhabited mountain area.

With Switzerland so close, Locarno and the canton of Ticino are part of daily life for many families in the valley, along with Domodossola for services. Traditional houses are built of stone, with piode roofs, the stone slabs typical of the Ossola: handsome, but heavy and expensive to redo. Before buying, have the beams and roof checked and look at heating, as this is climate zone F.

Malesco has 1,337 residents (2023), down 8.7% on 2011 according to Istat, the national statistics office. Households have 1.96 members on average, the average age is 49.6 and over-65s make up 28.0%, in line with the province.

The province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola has municipalities in seismic zones 3 and 4; Malesco is in zone 4, the lowest, with an expected ground acceleration of 0.056 g.

Slopes and streams matter more than earthquakes: for the address, the report checks the official landslide and flood maps, the gradient and the parcel on the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) maps.

Key points

  • Vigezzo valley village with a station on the Domodossola-Locarno line.
  • 1,337 residents, down 8.7% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 4, the lowest on the scale.
  • Stone-slab roofs: have beams and roof checked.

Overview

Malesco is a municipality in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 1,337 residents, ranked 25 of 74 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Malesco is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. Most municipalities in the province (46 of 74) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.056 g, a moderate 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 8.7%. The estimated average age is 50 years, in line with the province. 28% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 3.4% of the population. On average, a household has 2.0 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Malesco declared an average taxable income of 13,815 euros, below the provincial average (23,146 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Malesco is in climate zone F, with 3,294 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 761 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Malesco has 2 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 grocery shop and 1 green area.

The data shows no healthcare facilities within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.7 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 1.8% of the land in Malesco, 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

Malesco 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 contaminated sites in Malesco.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Malesco: 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 Malesco 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 27 inhabited census areas in Malesco. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 59 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 23.7%
  • fair 76.3%

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 103041. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.