Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Sernio: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Sernio

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 Roma 1, Sernio.

Sernio, on the Valtellina hillside near Tirano

Sernio sits on the side of the Valtellina, just above the valley floor where the river Adda runs, right next to Tirano. The town hall stands at around 630 metres: high enough for views over the valley, close enough that the shops, secondary schools and railway station of Tirano are an easy drive away.

It is a residential village, with stone houses in the old core and newer detached homes along the roads that climb the slope. This is climate zone F, the coldest category: winters are long, so heating costs need to be in the budget from the start, together with the state of the roof, which has to carry snow. For a house on a slope, also check retaining walls and drainage.

In 2023 there were 484 residents, down 3.2% on 2011 according to Istat, the national statistics office. The village is slightly younger than the province of Sondrio: an average age of 45.4 against 46.8, with over-65s at 23.3% against 25.3%. Foreign residents make up 2.5%. Average declared incomes are a little below the provincial figure.

Sernio is in seismic zone 3 on the Civil Protection department's national scale, like 63 other municipalities in the province, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.078 g. In a stone building it is worth having a surveyor check how the walls, floors and roof are tied together.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps, so the report traces the land parcel from the address. On a mountainside, landslides and debris flows along streams depend on the exact spot: the report looks them up on the official maps for the address rather than judging the whole village.

Key points

  • Hillside village in the Valtellina, next to Tirano.
  • 484 residents in 2023, average age 45.4.
  • Seismic zone 3, like 63 other municipalities in the province.
  • Climate zone F: check heating and roof first.

Overview

Sernio is a municipality in the province of Sondrio, in Lombardia. At the end of 2023 it had 484 residents, ranked 66 of 77 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Sernio is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (64 of 77) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.078 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 3.2%. The estimated average age is 45 years, in line with the province. 23% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 2.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Sernio declared an average taxable income of 23,429 euros, in line with the province (23,822 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Sernio is in climate zone F, with 3,078 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 632 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Sernio has 1 school. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 grocery shop.

The data shows no pharmacies within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.4 per 1,000 residents.

Public transport

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

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 3.4% of the land in Sernio, compared with 2.7% in the province and 12.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Sernio is one of the municipalities designated as a radon priority area 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 contaminated sites in Sernio.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Sernio: 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 Sernio 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 5 inhabited census areas in Sernio. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 62 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 014059. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.