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Omegna: 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 Omegna

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 Iv Novembre 1, Omegna.

Omegna, the top of Lake Orta and Italy's kitchenware town

Omegna sits at the northern end of Lake Orta. Right in the town centre the lake drains into the Nigoglia, a short river that flows north to join the Strona, while the Ticino and the Adda leave Lake Maggiore and Lake Como heading south towards the plain. The children's writer Gianni Rodari was born here, and for about a century the valley has been Italy's kitchenware district: Alessi is based in Crusinallo, part of Omegna, and Lagostina started out in the town.

Homes vary a great deal. Along the lakefront and in the centre you find older buildings and post-war blocks of flats, while the outlying hamlets climb the hillsides with stone houses, detached homes and steep roads. The Novara to Domodossola railway has a station in town, and Gravellona Toce and Verbania, on Lake Maggiore, are close by. Winters are cold, so heating and insulation weigh on monthly running costs.

The population has been falling for years. In 2023 Istat, the national statistics office, counted 14,256 residents, 9.5% fewer than in 2011, or 1,488 people. Even so, Omegna is number 3 by size among the 74 municipalities of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. The estimated average age is 49.4 and over-65s make up 29.3%, more than the Piedmont average of 26.6%. Declared incomes are above the provincial average.

Earthquakes are not a major concern. On the scale kept by the Civil Protection Department, Omegna is in seismic zone 4 with 45 other municipalities in the province, the remaining 28 being in zone 3, and expected acceleration is about 0.047 g. In an older house, look instead at the roof, damp in walls against the hillside and the state of the wiring and heating.

Between the lake, mountain streams and steep slopes, flood and landslide hazard changes a lot from one address to the next, and the report checks both on the official maps for the exact spot. The Revenue Agency publishes its cadastral maps, so an address can be traced to its land parcel.

Key points

  • Northern tip of Lake Orta, home of Rodari and of kitchenware makers.
  • 14,256 residents, down 9.5% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 4, expected acceleration about 0.047 g.
  • Lakefront, centre and hillside hamlets: very different homes.

Overview

Omegna is a municipality in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 14,256 residents, the third most populous in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Omegna 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 0.047 g, a low 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 9.5%. The estimated average age is 49 years, in line with the province. 29% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 6.3% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Omegna declared an average taxable income of 24,572 euros, above the provincial average (23,146 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Omegna is in climate zone E, with 2,688 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 295 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Omegna has 16 schools and 6 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 12 grocery shops and supermarkets, 13 healthcare facilities, 17 sports facilities and 2 parks and green areas.

There are 0.9 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 11.5% of the land in Omegna, 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

Omegna 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 one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Omegna, and one more has 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 Omegna: 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 Omegna 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 103 inhabited census areas in Omegna. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 62 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 3.4%
  • fair 59.0%
  • good 37.6%

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 103050. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.