Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Rio di Pusteria: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Bolzano/Bozen, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Rio di Pusteria

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 Katharina Lanz 1, Rio di Pusteria.

Rio di Pusteria, gateway to the valley and Maranza

Rio di Pusteria, Mühlbach in German, stands at the mouth of the Puster valley, a few kilometres north east of Bressanone, where the valley narrows at the Mühlbacher Klause, the old barrier that controlled the passage. The village is on the valley floor, along the Puster valley railway and the main road, while the hamlets of Maranza and Valles, higher up, also live off tourism, with the lifts of the Gitschberg Jochtal ski area.

This is a growing municipality. Istat, Italy's statistics office, counts 3,207 residents in 2023, up 10.1% on 2011, with a young population for South Tyrol (average age 41.6 against 43.4 in the province, 18.2% over 65). Foreign residents make up 13.1%. Declared incomes are in line with the provincial average. The railway station and 60 public transport stops help anyone working in Bressanone or Brunico.

Buyers must choose between the valley floor, more convenient and better connected, and the mountain hamlets, where farmsteads, houses with holiday flats and longer winters are the norm. South Tyrol has specific rules on residency and subsidised housing, so before making an offer ask the municipality whether the property carries any restrictions.

All 116 municipalities in Bolzano province are in seismic zone 4, and the expected ground acceleration is about 0.047 g. Here too the tavolare system applies: ownership and rights are recorded in the land book (Grundbuch), and the cadastral maps are not published by the national Revenue Agency.

Key points

  • At the mouth of the Puster valley, near Bressanone.
  • 3,207 residents, up 10.1% since 2011.
  • Railway station and 60 public transport stops.
  • Seismic zone 4, land book (tavolare) registry.

Overview

Rio di Pusteria is a municipality in the province of Bolzano/Bozen, in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. At the end of 2023 it had 3,207 residents, ranked 45 of 116 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Rio di Pusteria is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 116 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.047 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 grown by 10.1%. The estimated average age is 42 years, lower than the province average (43). 18% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 22%). Foreign residents make up 13.1% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Rio di Pusteria declared an average taxable income of 28,008 euros, in line with the province (28,222 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Rio di Pusteria is in climate zone F, with 3,646 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 777 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Health lists, Rio di Pusteria has 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 school, 2 grocery shops and supermarkets, 2 healthcare facilities and 6 sports facilities.

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

Public transport

Within the municipality there are 60 public transport stops, served by 14 bus lines, 1 train line. That is about 18.7 stops per 1,000 residents.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 2.1% of the land in Rio di Pusteria, compared with 2.7% in the province and 2.9% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 1.7 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Rio di Pusteria is one of the municipalities designated as a radon priority area by the Provincia autonoma di Bolzano in 2026. 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 Rio di Pusteria; 4 have been cleaned up or closed.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Rio di Pusteria: 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

For Rio di Pusteria the Revenue Agency does not publish cadastral maps: the land registry here uses the tavolare (land book) system. The report cannot give a parcel reference, but it still checks risks, services and transport at the address and states this clearly.

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 60 inhabited census areas in Rio di Pusteria. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 69 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 13.5%
  • good 61.4%
  • very good 25.1%

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 021074. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.