Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Usellus: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Usellus

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 Eleonora D'Arborea 1, Usellus.

Usellus, the ancient Uselis in the Alta Marmilla

Usellus is a village in the Alta Marmilla, in the interior of the province of Oristano, at around 290 metres, among hills, pasture and fields. Its name comes from Uselis, which held the rank of colony in Roman times, and the area has traces of that past alongside older remains. Today it is a small, quiet farming village, from which Oristano and the coast are a drive away.

Buyers will mostly find traditional houses of stone and, in some cases, mud brick, built around an inner courtyard, alongside more recent homes. Old walls need particular care: rising damp and the state of the walls should be checked by a surveyor before signing. On the steeper slopes the report measures gradient and elevation and reads the official landslide hazard maps; along the streams it also checks flooding.

Usellus is losing residents and ageing: 694 residents in 2023, 160 fewer than in 2011 (down 18.7%). The average age is 54.0 against 49.8 in the province, over-65s make up 35.6% against 29.5%, and households have 1.97 people on average. Average declared income is below the provincial level.

Earthquakes carry little weight here: all 87 municipalities in the province of Oristano are in seismic zone 4, the lowest in the Civil Protection (Protezione Civile) classification, and the expected ground acceleration is about 0.050 g. The costs to plan for in an old house are rather the roof, waterproofing, wiring and plumbing, and insulation against summer heat.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps for Usellus: the report traces the address to its land parcel and building.

Key points

  • Alta Marmilla village, heir to the Roman colony of Uselis.
  • 694 residents, down 18.7% since 2011.
  • Average age 54.0, over-65s at 35.6%.
  • All 87 municipalities in the province in seismic zone 4.

Overview

Usellus is a municipality in the province of Oristano, in Sardegna. At the end of 2023 it had 694 residents, ranked 47 of 87 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Usellus is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 87 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.050 g, a moderate 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 fallen by 18.7%. The estimated average age is 54 years, higher than the province average (50). 36% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 1.3% of the population. On average, a household has 2.0 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Usellus declared an average taxable income of 17,240 euros, below the provincial average (19,764 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Usellus is in climate zone C, with 1,347 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 November to 31 March, for up to 10 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 289 metres above sea level.

Services

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

The data shows no healthcare facilities within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.6 per 1,000 residents.

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 2.0% of the land in Usellus, compared with 3.4% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Usellus is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Sardegna in 2022. 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.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Usellus: 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 Usellus 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 3 inhabited census areas in Usellus. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 67 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 25.6%
  • good 74.4%

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 115081. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.