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Urbino: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, Marche. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Urbino

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: Strada Provinciale 9 Feltresca 1, Urbino.

Urbino, a small Renaissance city

The Ducal Palace built for Federico da Montefeltro still dominates the skyline of Urbino, the Renaissance hill town where Raphael was born and whose historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also home to a long-established university. For a buyer, though, the first thing to grasp is scale: Urbino had 13,819 residents at the end of 2023, making it only the fifth largest municipality in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, which it heads jointly with Pesaro.

The population figures deserve attention. Since the 2011 census the number of residents has fallen by 10.9%. The estimated average age is 48.3, above the provincial 46.9, and 28.3% of residents are over 65. If you plan to live here or let the property, it is worth looking closely at the particular part of town, as well as at the beauty of the setting.

Services, on the other hand, are plentiful for a town of this size. Overture Maps data record 21 schools and education sites, 1.52 per 1,000 residents against 0.97 across the province, and 118 cafés, bars and restaurants, or 8.54 per 1,000. The Ministry of Health lists 7 pharmacies, slightly more per head than the provincial average (0.51 against 0.39).

Like the rest of the province, Urbino is in seismic zone 2, the second highest of Italy's four classes. The expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.175 g, a medium-high level. In a historic centre made up of old buildings, it matters to know what structural work has been carried out and whether there is paperwork to prove it.

The land registry is straightforward: the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the municipality's cadastral maps, and the report finds the building's sheet and parcel (foglio and particella) from the address. Landslide and flood hazard and the local price range are a different matter: conditions change between the hilltop centre and the scattered hamlets in the countryside, so they are checked at the exact spot.

Key points

  • UNESCO-listed historic centre and birthplace of Raphael.
  • Resident population down 10.9% since the 2011 census.
  • Well served for its size: 1.52 schools per 1,000 residents.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected ground acceleration about 0.175 g.

Overview

Urbino is the capital of the province of Pesaro e Urbino, in Marche. At the end of 2023 it had 13,819 residents, among the most populous in the province (5 of 50).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Urbino is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. All 50 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.175 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Urbino, the building matters a great deal: ask for the design year, whether it met the 2008 seismic standards, and whether any seismic retrofit has been carried out.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 10.9%. The estimated average age is 48 years, in line with the province. 28% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 26%). Foreign residents make up 9.2% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Urbino declared an average taxable income of 24,281 euros, in line with the province (23,718 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Urbino is in climate zone E, with 2,545 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 485 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Urbino has 21 schools and 7 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 17 grocery shops and supermarkets, 9 healthcare facilities, 17 sports facilities and 8 parks and green areas.

There are 1.2 grocery shops and supermarkets 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 4.4% of the land in Urbino, compared with 6.8% in the province and 7.0% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 7.1 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is low. 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 Urbino, 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 Urbino: 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 Urbino 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 142 inhabited census areas in Urbino. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 59 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.5%
  • fair 64.3%
  • good 35.2%

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 041067. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.