Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Montalbano Jonico: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Montalbano Jonico

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 Sant'Antuono 1, Montalbano Jonico.

Montalbano Jonico, between the badlands and the Metaponto plain

Around Montalbano Jonico, water has carved the clay into thin ridges and deep gullies. These are the calanchi, a badlands landscape protected as a regional nature reserve and easy to see all around the town. The centre sits on high ground at around three hundred metres, between the Agri and Cavone valleys, looking out over the plain towards the Ionian Sea.

The coast, with Policoro and Scanzano Jonico, is about twenty kilometres away; Matera, the provincial capital, is much further, so for many services people turn to the towns along the Ionian strip. The plain grows fruit and vegetables, the hills wheat and olives. The town has an old centre of masonry houses on sloping streets and a newer part along the approach roads; in the countryside there are scattered houses and farms.

Istat, the national statistics office, counted 6,612 residents in 2023, 11.0% fewer than the 7,427 of 2011, a steep fall shared by many towns in Basilicata. The average age of 47.1 is a little above the province (46.3), and over-65s make up 25.9%. Foreign residents are 6.5%. Declared incomes are below the provincial average.

In the province of Matera, 17 municipalities are in seismic zone 2 and 14 in zone 3 on the Civil Protection Department's scale, Montalbano among them, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.088 g in the built-up area. For older masonry houses it is still worth asking when they were built, what structural work has been done and what state the floors are in.

Here, though, the first thing to check is the ground. The clays of the badlands erode and the slopes around the town can move, so gradient and landslide hazard need reading for the specific address, as does flood hazard on the lower land near the rivers. The report does this against the official maps. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps, and the report traces each address to its land parcel.

Key points

  • Town above the badlands, between the Agri and Cavone valleys.
  • Ionian coast about twenty kilometres away; Matera further.
  • Population down 11.0% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 3; clay slopes to check by address.

Overview

Montalbano Jonico is a municipality in the province of Matera, in Basilicata. At the end of 2023 it had 6,612 residents, ranked 9 of 31 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Montalbano Jonico is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. The region uses a finer breakdown: here the classification is 3b. Only 14 of 31 municipalities in the province are in zone 3.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.088 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

Even in zone 3, seismic standards apply to new buildings: for an older building, ask about the design year and any structural work.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 11.0%. The estimated average age is 47 years, in line with the province. 26% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 6.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.2 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Montalbano Jonico declared an average taxable income of 17,938 euros, below the provincial average (19,958 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Montalbano Jonico is in climate zone C, with 1,392 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 292 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Montalbano Jonico has 4 schools and 2 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 6 grocery shops and supermarkets, 1 healthcare facility, 1 sports facility and 1 green area.

There are 0.2 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.4).

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 1.7% of the land in Montalbano Jonico, compared with 2.7% in the province and 3.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land shrank by 1.1 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Official databases list 2 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Montalbano Jonico, and one more has been cleaned up or closed. 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 Montalbano Jonico: 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 Montalbano Jonico 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 Montalbano Jonico. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 83 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 1.1%
  • good 32.8%
  • very good 66.1%

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 077016. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.