All things you need to know about living in Mercallo
Mercallo, in the province of Varese, is home to 4 French nationals: 0.22% of its 1,792 residents.
That is the 150th-highest concentration of French nationals among the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents.
Within Lombardia it ranks 38th.
ISTAT counts 85 residents with a foreign citizenship in Mercallo, 4.74% of the population. The largest groups among the nationalities we follow most closely are French nationals (4), Spaniards (2), Britons (2).
On ISTAT's well-being measures, the province of Varese scores in the top quarter of Italian provinces for road mortality in non-urban roads and intentional homicide rate.
It scores in the bottom quarter for electricity from renewable sources and burglaries reported.
These figures describe the province, not the town. A comune can sit some way from its province's average.
Summers average a high of 27.8°C (82°F) and winters a low of -0.2°C (32°F), measured over 2015 to 2024.
Mercallo sees about 16 days a year above 30°C (86°F).
It gets about 1,529mm of rain a year, spread across roughly 130 days.
These come from ERA5-Land reanalysis at the comune itself, not from the nearest weather station.
OMI puts residential purchase prices in Mercallo at about €1,150 per square meter in the second half of 2025.
At those figures, buying costs about 22 years of renting the same property.
Mercallo population over time
By nationality
| Nationality | Citizens | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | 12 | 0.67% |
| Albania | 9 | 0.50% |
| Romania | 9 | 0.50% |
| France | 4 | 0.22% |
| Spain | 2 | 0.11% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 0.11% |
| Netherlands | 2 | 0.11% |
| Switzerland | 1 | 0.06% |
| Russia | 1 | 0.06% |
| Argentina | 0 | 0.00% |
| Austria | 0 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Belgium | 0 | 0.00% |
| Bulgaria | 0 | 0.00% |
| Brazil | 0 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 0 | 0.00% |
| Cyprus | 0 | 0.00% |
| Czechia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Germany | 0 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 0 | 0.00% |
| Estonia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Finland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Greece | 0 | 0.00% |
| Croatia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Hungary | 0 | 0.00% |
| Ireland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 0 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 0 | 0.00% |
| Lithuania | 0 | 0.00% |
| Luxembourg | 0 | 0.00% |
| Latvia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Malta | 0 | 0.00% |
| Mexico | 0 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 0 | 0.00% |
| Poland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Portugal | 0 | 0.00% |
| Sweden | 0 | 0.00% |
| Slovenia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Slovakia | 0 | 0.00% |
| United States | 0 | 0.00% |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 1,679 | 93.69% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 22 | 1.23% |
| Born outside the EU | 91 | 5.08% |
French nationals over time
Quality of life in Varese
Full BES profile for Varese →Varese on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Property prices
Buying in Mercallo is below the Varese average of €1,300/m². Averaged across 2 OMI micro-zones, which can differ substantially within the same town.
22 years of rent here equal the purchase price, close to the national median of 22.2 years.
A ratio between two OMI prices, not a return on investment. It leaves out purchase taxes, IMU, maintenance, financing and the months a place sits empty — all of which push the real figure up. Useful for the question it does answer: whether this town looks expensive to buy relative to what renting in it costs.
A detached house here averages €1,388/m², against €1,150 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighborhood — a house costs 21% more per square meter.
OMI prices “Ville e Villini” separately from the apartments every other figure on this page describes. Nationally a house costs about 14% more per square meter, but in 450 comuni it costs less — worth checking rather than assuming.
Seismic zone
Mercallo is in seismic zone 4. Of the four zones, zone 1 is the highest hazard and zone 4 the lowest. The Department of Civil Protection describes zone 4 as the lowest-hazard zone, where a strong earthquake is very unlikely.
This is the legal classification the Region gave the comune, used for planning and for control of building works. It is not a forecast, and it says nothing about the building you are looking at: since the 2018 building code the design load of a new building comes from site-specific hazard, not from the zone. Have any specific property checked by a qualified engineer.
Not to be confused with the “seismic” routes of the 7% pensioner regime. Those turn on whether the comune was in the 2009 L’Aquila or 2016–17 central-Italy earthquake areas, not on its zone, and being in zone 1 does not make anyone eligible for that regime, or for any tax treatment.
See every comune on the map →Hospital, airport and daily-needs distance
Nearest hospital: Ospedale a.Bellini - Somma Lombardo, about 10.2 km / 11 minutes by road from Mercallo (the main town).
Nearest emergency department: Ospedale Carlo Ondoli - Angera (Pronto Soccorso), about 16.9 km / 16 minutes by road from Mercallo (the main town).
Nearest DEA (level I or II): Osp. S. Antonio Abate - Gallarate (DEA level I), about 20.2 km / 16 minutes by road from Mercallo (the main town).
Nearest airport: Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP), about 17.2 km / 19 minutes by road from Mercallo (the main town).
Nearest supermarket (OpenStreetMap): In's Mercato, about 4.9 km / 5 minutes by road from Mercallo (the main town).
Nearest pharmacy: Farmacia Giardini Di Ceffa Giangiacomo E Ceffa Emanuela S.n.c., about 0.4 km / 1 minute by road from Mercallo (the main town).
Nearest railway station (OpenStreetMap): Vergiate, about 5.7 km / 6 minutes by road from Mercallo (the main town).
Measured by road from the main town of the comune (its OpenStreetMap place point; the geographic center for the few comuni with none), at free-flow speeds with no traffic. It is approximate. For Mercallo, a trip from your own address can take longer or shorter. Drive the route before you rely on it, and ask the local health authority which hospital serves the town. Shops, pharmacies and stations are the nearest to the main town, not to your address.
Nearby comuni
← See Mercallo on the interactive map
This page, as data
Every figure above sits behind the page as a value with its source, its date and its coverage attached. Your assistant reads the same record, gaps included.