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Maletto: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Maletto

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 Umberto 1, Maletto.

Maletto, strawberries on the north-west flank of Etna

On the north-western flank of Etna, between Bronte and Randazzo, Maletto is one of the highest towns in the province of Catania, with its town hall close to a thousand metres. It is known across Sicily for strawberries, grown on the volcanic soil around the town, and the town stretches along the slope with steep streets. The Circumetnea, the narrow-gauge railway that loops around the volcano, stops at Maletto.

Altitude changes how you live in a house here. The town is in climate zone E, unusual for Sicily: cold winters, sometimes with snow, and heating is a real cost. Housing is mostly lava-stone houses in the centre and newer homes on the edges, often on several floors. Few services are recorded: 3 school sites, 1 pharmacy and 8 bars and restaurants; for everything else people go to Bronte or Randazzo.

Maletto is losing residents. Istat, the national statistics office, counted 3,567 in 2023, down 11.2% since 2011. The average age is 45.3, above the provincial 44.2, and over-65s make up 24.7%. Foreign residents account for 3.1%. Average declared incomes are much lower than in the Catania province as a whole.

The municipality is in seismic zone 2 on the scale of the Civil Protection Department (the national emergency agency), like 53 other municipalities in the province, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.163 g. In stone houses, have the ties between walls and floors and the roof checked; in concrete buildings, find out the design date and whether the structure has been upgraded.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps for the municipality. The volcano is part of everyday life: the ground is lava, the slopes fall away towards the valley, and landslide and flood hazard are read for each address in the report.

Key points

  • Strawberry town on the north-west flank of Etna.
  • 3,567 residents in 2023, down 11.2% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.163 g.
  • Climate zone E, rare in Sicily: cold winters.

Overview

Maletto is a municipality in the province of Catania, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 3,567 residents, ranked 50 of 58 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Maletto is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (54 of 58) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.163 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Maletto, 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 fallen by 11.2%. The estimated average age is 45 years, in line with the province. 25% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 3.1% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Maletto declared an average taxable income of 15,345 euros, below the provincial average (20,793 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Maletto is in climate zone E, with 2,268 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 960 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Maletto has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 3 grocery shops and supermarkets, 2 healthcare facilities and 2 sports facilities.

There are 0.8 grocery shops and supermarkets per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.5).

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 3.2% of the land in Maletto, compared with 8.0% in the province and 6.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Maletto.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Maletto: 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 Maletto 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 22 inhabited census areas in Maletto. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 77 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 5.7%
  • good 70.2%
  • very good 24.1%

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 087022. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.