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Porlezza: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Porlezza

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 Ceresio 1, Porlezza.

Porlezza, the Italian tip of Lake Lugano

Porlezza sits at the eastern end of Lake Lugano (Lago Ceresio), on the side that belongs to Italy. Behind it, valleys climb towards the Swiss border, while to the east the Val Menaggio, only a few kilometres long, leads to Menaggio on Lake Como. The town lives between lake and mountains, with a lakefront, campsites and hotels that fill up in summer.

Switzerland is close, and Lugano is a drive along the lakeshore. Many residents work in the canton of Ticino as cross-border commuters, which helps explain one figure: average income declared in Italy is much lower than the provincial average, because part of the earnings from work in Switzerland does not go through Italian tax returns. Buyers will find flats in the town, lakefront houses and homes on the slopes, plus a share of second homes.

The population is growing: 4,888 residents in 2023, up 4.9% on 2011. The average age is 45.2 (46.3 in the province of Como); people over 65 make up 22.3% and foreign residents 8.9%.

Earthquakes are not an issue: all 147 municipalities in the province are in seismic zone 4, the lowest, and the expected ground acceleration here is about 0.039 g. Insulation and heating matter more in a climate zone E winter, as does damp in houses close to the water.

The flat ground the town stands on was built up by debris carried down by the streams from the valleys: in heavy rain they can rise quickly, and the lake itself can come up. On the slopes, landslide hazard is what counts. The report checks all this at the address and uses the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) cadastral maps.

Key points

  • Italian end of Lake Lugano, close to the Swiss border.
  • 4,888 residents, up 4.9% since 2011.
  • The whole province in seismic zone 4.
  • Streams and lake floods: check at the address.

Overview

Porlezza is a municipality in the province of Como, in Lombardia. At the end of 2023 it had 4,888 residents, ranked 37 of 147 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Porlezza is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 147 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.039 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 grown by 4.9%. The estimated average age is 45 years, in line with the province. 22% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 8.9% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Porlezza declared an average taxable income of 17,447 euros, below the provincial average (26,761 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Porlezza is in climate zone E, with 2,460 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 275 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Porlezza has 4 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 3 grocery shops and supermarkets, 3 healthcare facilities and 7 sports facilities.

There are 0.2 pharmacies per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.3).

Public transport

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

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 8.3% of the land in Porlezza, compared with 12.3% in the province and 12.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Porlezza is not among the radon priority areas designated 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 open contaminated sites in Porlezza; 2 have been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Porlezza: 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 Porlezza 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 24 inhabited census areas in Porlezza. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 67 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 34.6%
  • good 65.4%

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 013189. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.