Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Vigliano Biellese: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Vigliano Biellese

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 Milano 1, Vigliano Biellese.

Vigliano Biellese, the wool town next to Biella

Heading south-east out of Biella, you reach Vigliano Biellese almost without noticing: houses, sheds and old textile mills form one built-up area with the city and the nearby villages. The town stands near the Cervo stream, at around three hundred metres, and grew in the twentieth century with the wool industry that shaped the whole Biella area in northern Piedmont. More than a third of the municipality is built over, a high share for Piedmont.

The housing market reflects that history. Next to small villas and blocks from the 1960s and 1970s there are workers' houses, courtyards and industrial buildings, some disused and some converted into homes or shops. When buying, look at what surrounds the address, because working or abandoned sheds make a big difference to the value of a street. The area is in climate zone E, with cold winters and heating bills that bite in poorly insulated houses.

As in much of the Biella area, the population is falling. At the end of 2023 there were 7,573 residents, down 7.4% since 2011 according to Istat, the national statistics office, yet Vigliano is still number 4 in the province by population. The average age is 49.9, in line with 49.7 in one of the oldest provinces in Italy, and over-65s make up 30.3%. Everyday services are good: Overture Maps lists 9 supermarkets and 10 sports facilities, more per resident than the provincial average.

Earthquake risk is low. Vigliano is in zone 4, the lowest on the scale of the Civil Protection Department, like 49 other municipalities in the province, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.041 g. In houses a few decades old, insulation, windows and systems matter more.

Near the Cervo and the streams coming down from the hills, flood hazard needs checking for the specific address, which the report does. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps, so every building can be traced to its plot.

Key points

  • Wool-industry town on the Cervo, joined to Biella.
  • Residents down 7.4% since 2011, over-65s at 30.3%.
  • 9 supermarkets and 10 sports facilities recorded.
  • Seismic zone 4, expected acceleration 0.041 g.

Overview

Vigliano Biellese is a municipality in the province of Biella, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 7,573 residents, among the most populous in the province (4 of 74).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Vigliano Biellese is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. Most municipalities in the province (50 of 74) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.041 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 fallen by 7.4%. The estimated average age is 50 years, in line with the province. 30% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 4.6% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Vigliano Biellese declared an average taxable income of 24,668 euros, in line with the province (25,111 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Vigliano Biellese is in climate zone E, with 2,710 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 312 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Vigliano Biellese has 6 schools and 2 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 9 grocery shops and supermarkets, 5 healthcare facilities and 10 sports facilities.

There are 1.2 grocery shops and supermarkets per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.6).

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 34.7% of the land in Vigliano Biellese, compared with 8.0% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.8 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Vigliano Biellese is one of the municipalities designated as a radon priority area by the Regione Piemonte 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 one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Vigliano Biellese. 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 Vigliano Biellese: 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 Vigliano Biellese 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 43 inhabited census areas in Vigliano Biellese. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 61 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.3%
  • fair 64.8%
  • good 34.9%

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 096077. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.