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Montacuto: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Montacuto

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 Giarolo 1, Montacuto.

Montacuto, between the hills and the Apennines near Tortona

Where the hills around Tortona start turning into mountains, Montacuto covers an area of ridges, woods and small hamlets, with the town hall at about five hundred metres. This is the Apennine part of the province of Alessandria, an area of tiny villages where people drive down to Tortona for the hospital, secondary schools and offices, and where many services are found only in the valley towns.

The population has fallen sharply and aged. In 2023 there were 234 residents, 72 fewer than the 306 of 2011, a drop of 23.5% according to Istat, the national statistics office. The estimated average age is 56.4, against 48.9 in the province of Alessandria, and over-65s make up 40.6%, compared with 28.6% provincially. Foreign residents account for 8.5%.

Buyers will find farmhouses, stone hamlet houses and a few homes renovated as weekend places. Roads are narrow and winding hill roads, and in climate zone E winter calls for good heating. Before buying, look at the roof, damp in the walls and, for isolated houses, connections to water, sewerage and broadband. Average declared incomes are lower than the provincial average.

Montacuto is in seismic zone 3 of the Civil Protection classification, like 127 of the 187 municipalities in the province, with an expected ground acceleration in the village of about 0.097 g. On Apennine slopes the ground can be unstable: the report checks the official landslide maps and the gradient of the plot for the address. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps.

Key points

  • Apennine village near Tortona, among ridges, woods and hamlets.
  • Residents down 23.5% since 2011, now 234.
  • Over-65s at 40.6%, against 28.6% in the province.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration about 0.097 g.

Overview

Montacuto is a municipality in the province of Alessandria, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 234 residents, ranked 166 of 187 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Montacuto is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (127 of 187) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.097 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 23.5%. The estimated average age is 56 years, higher than the province average (49). 41% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 8.5% of the population. On average, a household has 1.7 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Montacuto declared an average taxable income of 20,644 euros, below the provincial average (25,143 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Montacuto is in climate zone E, with 2,923 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 525 metres above sea level.

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 1.7% of the land in Montacuto, compared with 7.2% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Montacuto is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Piemonte in 2023. According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is low. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Montacuto. 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 Montacuto: 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 Montacuto 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 23 inhabited census areas in Montacuto. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 55 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 006102. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.