Ostellato: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
Liveability index free for any address
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Search for an address in Ostellato
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 Lidi Ferraresi 1, Ostellato.
Ostellato, reclaimed land between Ferrara and the Po delta
From Ferrara to the Comacchio beaches, the expressway crosses a very low plain won from the marshes by land reclamation, and Ostellato lies halfway. The town hall is only a few metres above sea level, and parts of the municipality sit just above or below it, kept dry by canals and pumping stations. Next to the town are the Valli di Ostellato, wetlands popular with waterbirds.
The municipality is split into several hamlets scattered across the countryside, with kilometres of fields between them. Besides the expressway there is the Ferrara to Codigoro railway, with a station at Ostellato. Pharmacies stand out in the data, 4 in all, 0.72 per 1,000 residents against 0.36 in the province, a sign of how spread out the area is.
Ostellato is losing people: 5,583 residents in 2023, down 13.5% since 2011 according to Istat, the national statistics office. It is also very old, in a province that already is: average age 52.4 against 49.2, over-65s at 33.9% against 28.9%. Foreign residents make up 8.1%, and declared incomes are below the Ferrara average. For buyers, in homes that have stood empty for a while the state of repair matters most.
Ostellato is in seismic zone 3, like 20 of the 21 municipalities in the province, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.132 g. Reclaimed ground is soft and compressible: cracks, sloping floors or doors that stick can point to foundation settlement, and are worth showing to a surveyor.
On land kept dry by pumps, flood hazard has to be checked house by house, and the report reads it for the address. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps, so the plot can be traced.
Key points
- Reclaimed plain between Ferrara and Comacchio.
- Expressway to the coast and Ferrara to Codigoro railway.
- Population down 13.5% since 2011, over-65s at 33.9%.
- Seismic zone 3; soft ground, watch for settlement.
Overview
Ostellato is a municipality in the province of Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna. At the end of 2023 it had 5,583 residents, ranked 16 of 21 municipalities in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Ostellato is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (20 of 21) are in the same zone.
In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.132 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 13.5%. The estimated average age is 52 years, higher than the province average (49). 34% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 8.1% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Ostellato declared an average taxable income of 21,194 euros, below the provincial average (24,414 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Ostellato is in climate zone E, with 2,270 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 2 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Ostellato has 6 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 4 grocery shops and supermarkets, 3 sports facilities and 1 green area.
The data shows no healthcare facilities within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
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 4.5% of the land in Ostellato, compared with 7.2% in the province and 9.0% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 4.4 hectares.
Radon and contaminated sites
Ostellato is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Emilia-Romagna in 2026. 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 Ostellato, and 2 more have 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 Ostellato: 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 Ostellato 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 66 inhabited census areas in Ostellato. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 62 or more.
Residents by band
- modest 3.4%
- fair 57.1%
- good 39.6%
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
- Seismic classification of municipalities, Dipartimento della Protezione Civile. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 2025-05.
- MPS04 seismic hazard model, INGV. Licence CC BY 4.0, 2004 model.
- Data by census section, Istat. Licence CC BY 4.0, residents at the end of 2023, compared with the 2011 census.
- Places, Overture Maps Foundation. Licence CDLA Permissive 2.0 and others depending on provider, release 2026-10-21.0.
- Income and main IRPEF variables by municipality, MEF, Dipartimento delle Finanze. Licence CC BY 3.0 IT, tax year 2024.
- Climate zones and heating degree days of municipalities (Presidential Decree 412/1993, Annex A), Normattiva. Licence CC BY 4.0, current text.
- Land take, territorial dynamics and ecosystem services, ISPRA e SNPA. Licence CC BY 4.0, 2024 data.
- Predictive radon map by municipality, ISPRA. Licence CC BY 4.0, version 2022-11.
- Radon priority areas (Legislative Decree 101/2020), Regione Emilia-Romagna, national list compiled by ARPA Lombardia. Licence Atto pubblico (art. 5 L. 633/1941), 2026.
- Contaminated sites, ISPRA, MOSAICO - Banca dati nazionale dei siti oggetto di procedimento di bonifica. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 12 November 2026.
- Liveability index by census area, Vicinalia, from the data in the report sections. Licence CC BY-SA 4.0, worked out on 30 September 2026.
- List of Italian municipalities, Istat. Licence CC BY 4.0, updated to 21 February 2026.
ISTAT code 038017. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.