Foreign residents in Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore, in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, is home to 3 French nationals — 0.23% of its 1,285 residents. That is the 140th-highest concentration of French nationals of any of the 5,872 Italian comuni with at least 1,000 residents, and 31st within Piemonte.
Across the nationalities we track, Santa Maria Maggiore counts 8 foreign residents in total, 0.62% of the population. The largest groups are French nationals (3), Swiss nationals (2), Argentinians (1).
Over the period 2019–2025, the number of French nationals in Santa Maria Maggiore has risen, from 2 to 3 (+50%).
Separately, ISTAT's census data shows 8.5% of Santa Maria Maggiore's population was born outside Italy — 5.4% outside the EU and 3.1% elsewhere in the EU. ISTAT does not publish this broken down by specific country at comune level, so it isn't directly comparable to the per-nationality citizenship figures above.
Population over time
By nationality
| Nationality | Citizens | Share |
|---|---|---|
| France | 3 | 0.23% |
| Switzerland | 2 | 0.16% |
| Argentina | 1 | 0.08% |
| Brazil | 1 | 0.08% |
| Germany | 1 | 0.08% |
| Austria | 0 | 0.00% |
| Australia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Belgium | 0 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 0 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 0 | 0.00% |
| Spain | 0 | 0.00% |
| Finland | 0 | 0.00% |
| United Kingdom | 0 | 0.00% |
| Greece | 0 | 0.00% |
| Ireland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 0 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 0 | 0.00% |
| Mexico | 0 | 0.00% |
| Netherlands | 0 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 0 | 0.00% |
| Portugal | 0 | 0.00% |
| Russia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Sweden | 0 | 0.00% |
| United States | 0 | 0.00% |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 1,176 | 91.52% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 40 | 3.11% |
| Born outside the EU | 69 | 5.37% |
French nationals over time
Quality of life in Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
Full BES profile for Verbano-Cusio-Ossola →Verbano-Cusio-Ossola on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Property prices
Buying in Santa Maria Maggiore is above the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola average of €1,396/m². Averaged across 2 OMI micro-zones, which can differ substantially within the same town.
25.6 years of rent here equal the purchase price — above 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 €1,900/m², against €1,613 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighbourhood — a house costs 18% more per square metre.
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 metre, but in 450 comuni it costs less — worth checking rather than assuming.