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Tortona: 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 Tortona

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 Emilia 1, Tortona.

Tortona, the Scrivia, wine hills and a logistics hub

Tortona is the Roman Dertona, on the bank of the Scrivia river, where the Alessandria plain meets the Tortona hills. It is a town of crossroads: railways to Genoa, Milan, Turin and Piacenza meet here, as do the A7 and A21 motorways, and the outlying village of Rivalta Scrivia is home to one of the big logistics hubs of north-west Italy.

Warehouses and transport employ many people, including many who came from elsewhere, and foreign nationals make up 19.4% of residents, a high share. There are 26,436 residents (2023), up 1.7% on 2011, in a province that is losing population overall. The estimated average age, 47.7, is lower than the provincial 48.9, and declared incomes are above the provincial average.

The old town has palazzi and period houses around the cathedral and the shopping streets. Beyond it are districts of flats and detached houses, while the hills to the south have farmhouses and homes among the vineyards that produce Timorasso, a local white wine. For anyone working in Milan or Genoa, the train is a real alternative to driving.

Seismic hazard is low: zone 3 on the Civil Protection scale, like 126 other municipalities in the province, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.084 g. The Scrivia needs more attention, as its floods have reached the plain several times. The report checks the official flood maps for the address, together with the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps. Winters are cold and foggy (climate zone E).

Key points

  • Rail and motorway junction, logistics hub at Rivalta Scrivia.
  • Foreign nationals 19.4%, population up since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected ground acceleration about 0.084 g.
  • Scrivia river floods: check the flood maps for the address.

Overview

Tortona is a municipality in the province of Alessandria, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 26,436 residents, among the most populous in the province (4 of 187).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Tortona 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 0.084 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 grown by 1.7%. The estimated average age is 48 years, in line with the province. 27% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 19.4% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Tortona declared an average taxable income of 27,320 euros, above the provincial average (25,143 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Tortona is in climate zone E, with 2,516 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 122 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Tortona has 19 schools and 8 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 22 grocery shops and supermarkets, 27 healthcare facilities, 26 sports facilities and 5 parks and green areas.

There are 0.3 pharmacies per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.5).

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 17.6% of the land in Tortona, compared with 7.2% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 1.2 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Tortona 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 7 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Tortona, and 12 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 Tortona: 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 Tortona 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 219 inhabited census areas in Tortona. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 74 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.7%
  • fair 20.7%
  • good 60.2%
  • very good 18.4%

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 006174. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.