Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Ischia: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Ischia

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 Michele Mazzella 1, Ischia.

Ischia, the harbour, the Aragonese Castle and the spas

The municipality of Ischia covers the eastern part of the island, where many of the ferries arrive. It includes Ischia Porto, whose harbour was cut from an old volcanic crater lake, and Ischia Ponte, the village joined by a long stone causeway to the Aragonese Castle. There are five other municipalities on the island, among them Casamicciola Terme, Lacco Ameno and Forio.

Living here means relying on the sea for every trip: ferries and hydrofoils link the island with Naples and Pozzuoli, and in summer both traffic and demand for rentals rise sharply. The market mixes permanent residents, holiday homes and tourist accommodation. There are 200 cafés and restaurants, 10.20 per 1,000 residents against 4.49 in the province. Before buying, have a surveyor confirm that the property complies with planning rules and check the outcome of any amnesty application (condono), a common issue on the island.

Istat, the national statistics office, recorded 19,600 residents in 2023, up 4.9% on 2011. The average age of 45.4 is higher than in the Naples metropolitan area (43.2), and households are small, 2.13 people on average.

The island is volcanic and earthquakes are part of its history: the 1883 quake destroyed Casamicciola, and the 2017 tremor struck the northern side again. The municipality of Ischia is in seismic zone 2 of the national classification by the Civil Protection Department, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.159 g. Buyers should ask when the building went up, what was added later and whether the structure has been checked, especially in buildings that grew by extensions.

The ground needs care too. On the steep slopes of Monte Epomeo and in the gullies running down to the sea, intense rain can trigger landslides and mudflows, as Casamicciola saw in 2022. The report checks the official maps for the exact address and finds the plot on the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps.

Key points

  • Ischia Porto and Ischia Ponte, below the Aragonese Castle.
  • 19,600 residents in 2023, up 4.9% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.159 g.
  • Planning compliance and landslides to check before buying.

Overview

Ischia is a municipality in the province of Napoli, in Campania. At the end of 2023 it had 19,600 residents, ranked 39 of 92 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Ischia is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (76 of 92) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.159 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Ischia, 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 grown by 4.9%. The estimated average age is 45 years, higher than the province average (43). 23% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 21%). Foreign residents make up 5.8% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Ischia declared an average taxable income of 20,210 euros, below the provincial average (21,545 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Ischia is in climate zone C, with 1,044 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 2 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Ischia has 13 schools and 5 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 18 grocery shops and supermarkets, 14 healthcare facilities, 16 sports facilities and 6 parks and green areas.

There are 0.9 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 45.4% of the land in Ischia, compared with 34.9% in the province and 10.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

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 no contaminated sites in Ischia.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Ischia: 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 Ischia 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 51 inhabited census areas in Ischia. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 70 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 22.8%
  • good 77.2%

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 063037. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.