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Novi Ligure: 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 Novi Ligure

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 Giuseppe Mazzini 1, Novi Ligure.

Novi Ligure, chocolate, cycling legends and the railway

The name gives away its past. Novi Ligure is in Piedmont, in the province of Alessandria, yet for centuries it belonged to the Republic of Genoa. The town sits where the Alessandria plain meets the first hills of the Apennines, with the Gavi vineyards a little to the south, and it has always looked more towards Liguria than towards Turin.

This is a town of factories and railway lines. Chocolate and confectionery makers have been based here for decades, and there is a big rail freight yard serving the lines between Genoa, Turin and Milan. Novi is also linked to two cycling greats: Costante Girardengo came from here and Fausto Coppi lived here for many years, and a cycling museum honours both.

The station has trains to Genoa and Alessandria, and the A7 motorway runs a few kilometres away, so commuting to the port city or towards Milan is feasible. Post-war apartment blocks dominate the town, with period houses in the centre, while the surrounding hills offer farmhouses (cascine) and detached houses with land.

There are 27,313 residents (2023), down 1.3% since 2011. The estimated average age is 48.2, slightly below the 48.9 of a province that is among the oldest in Italy, and 28.0% of residents are over 65. Foreign nationals make up 14.2%, a high share, and declared incomes are a little above the provincial average.

For earthquakes, Novi is in zone 3 on the Civil Protection scale, like 126 other municipalities around Alessandria, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.088 g, a low value. In older houses the roof, damp and the heating and wiring matter more, not least because winters are cold and foggy (climate zone E). The Revenue Agency publishes cadastral maps here, and flood risk from local streams is checked for each address.

Key points

  • Piedmont town with a Genoese past, between plain and the Gavi hills.
  • Station on the lines to Genoa, A7 motorway a few kilometres away.
  • Foreign nationals 14.2%, population falling since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected ground acceleration about 0.088 g.

Overview

Novi Ligure is a municipality in the province of Alessandria, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 27,313 residents, the third most populous in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Novi Ligure 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 0.088 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 1.3%. The estimated average age is 48 years, in line with the province. 28% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 14.2% of the population. On average, a household has 2.0 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Novi Ligure declared an average taxable income of 25,648 euros, in line with the province (25,143 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Novi Ligure is in climate zone E, with 2,717 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 197 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Novi Ligure has 19 schools and 9 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 21 grocery shops and supermarkets, 39 healthcare facilities, 28 sports facilities and 4 parks and green areas.

There are 1.4 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.7).

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 19.8% of the land in Novi Ligure, compared with 7.2% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 8.4 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Novi Ligure 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 4 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Novi Ligure, and 7 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 Novi Ligure: 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 Novi Ligure 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 149 inhabited census areas in Novi Ligure. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 78 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.2%
  • fair 6.1%
  • good 61.8%
  • very good 31.8%

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 006114. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.