Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Monte Argentario: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Monte Argentario

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 Panoramica 1, Monte Argentario.

Monte Argentario, Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole

Monte Argentario was once an island. Today it is a mountainous headland tied to the mainland by two sand spits, the Giannella and Feniglia tomboli, which enclose the lagoon of Orbetello, with a causeway across the middle linking it to Orbetello itself. The municipality has two towns, both on the water. Porto Santo Stefano is home to the town hall and the harbour for the ferries to the island of Giglio. Porto Ercole, the smaller of the two, lies on the other side of the headland beneath fortresses built in the Spanish period.

The housing market here follows tourism. Many properties are second homes, busy in summer and shuttered in winter, and much of the demand comes from outside the province. If you plan to live here all year, allow for steep roads, scarce parking near the harbours and villas scattered over the mountain, often reached by private or unmade roads.

Istat, the national statistics office, recorded 11,783 residents in 2023, 773 fewer than in 2011, a fall of 6.2%. The population is old: an estimated average age of 49.9, over-65s at 30.4% against 29.0% across the province of Grosseto, and small households of 2.08 people on average. Foreign residents make up 6.0%. There are 10.27 bars and restaurants per 1,000 residents, against 9.28 in the province, and declared incomes are above the provincial average.

Seismic hazard is low. Monte Argentario is in zone 4, the lowest step of the national scale set by the Civil Protection Department, like 9 other municipalities in the province, and the expected ground acceleration is about 0.043 g. Salt and damp matter more here: they eat into render, balcony ironwork and window frames, so look at these closely in any house facing the sea.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps, and the report finds the plot from the address. On the steep slopes running down to the sea, the hazard from landslides and rockfalls changes from one bend in the road to the next and needs checking house by house.

Key points

  • Two harbour towns, Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole.
  • Population down 6.2% since 2011; over-65s at 30.4%.
  • Seismic zone 4, the lowest.
  • 10.27 bars and restaurants per 1,000 residents.

Overview

Monte Argentario is a municipality in the province of Grosseto, in Toscana. At the end of 2023 it had 11,783 residents, ranked 4 of 28 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Monte Argentario is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. Only 10 of 28 municipalities in the province are in zone 4.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.043 g, a low value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

In zone 4 the risk is low, but for an older building it is still worth asking about the state of the structure.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 6.2%. The estimated average age is 50 years, in line with the province. 30% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 26%). Foreign residents make up 6.0% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Monte Argentario declared an average taxable income of 24,058 euros, above the provincial average (22,706 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Monte Argentario is in climate zone C, with 1,399 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 5 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Monte Argentario has 8 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 6 grocery shops and supermarkets, 5 healthcare facilities, 21 sports facilities and 6 parks and green areas.

There are 0.4 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.8).

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 8.1% of the land in Monte Argentario, compared with 3.2% in the province and 6.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.6 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Monte Argentario is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Toscana in 2025. 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 one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Monte Argentario, 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 Monte Argentario: 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 Monte Argentario 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 80 inhabited census areas in Monte Argentario. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 78 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 34.2%
  • good 16.0%
  • very good 49.7%

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 053016. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.