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Rosarno: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Rosarno

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 Nazionale Nord 1, Rosarno.

Rosarno, citrus groves on the Gioia Tauro plain

Oranges and clementines have always been Rosarno's living. The town sits on a slight rise in the Piana di Gioia Tauro, the broad farming plain that opens onto the Tyrrhenian Sea in southern Calabria, and around it citrus groves alternate with olive trees. Many farm workers, Italian and foreign, arrive for the harvest season.

The Rosarno exit on the A2 motorway links the town to Reggio Calabria and the north, and a little further south is the port of Gioia Tauro, one of the Mediterranean's big container terminals, which together with the surrounding business areas is the main employer outside farming. Most of the housing dates from after the Second World War, often built one storey at a time and sometimes with parts never finished, so the first thing to check is whether the building is fully permitted and has its certificate of habitability (agibilità).

The population is young and stable. At the end of 2023 Istat, the national statistics office, counted 14,419 residents, up 0.3% on 2011, with an estimated average age of 41.6 against 45.2 for the province and over-65s at 18.6%. Households are large, averaging 2.67 people, foreign residents are 7.6%, and declared incomes are well below the provincial average.

Here earthquakes come first. All 97 municipalities in the province of Reggio Calabria are in seismic zone 1, the highest on the Civil Protection scale, and expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.267 g, among the highest values in Italy. Southern Calabria has a long history of destructive quakes. Before buying, get the structural design and the year of construction and, for houses extended upwards over time, confirm that the extra floors were engineered and signed off.

On the plain, near watercourses, the report checks flood-prone areas for the address; the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps are published and lead to the plot. The climate is mild, climate zone B.

Key points

  • Citrus groves on the Gioia Tauro plain, near the container port.
  • Seismic zone 1, expected acceleration about 0.267 g.
  • Average age 41.6, households of 2.67 people.
  • Houses extended floor by floor: check permits and habitability.

Overview

Rosarno is a municipality in the province of Reggio Calabria, in Calabria. At the end of 2023 it had 14,419 residents, among the most populous in the province (6 of 97).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Rosarno is in seismic zone 1, the highest-risk zone, where very strong earthquakes are possible. All 97 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.267 g, a high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Rosarno, 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 number of residents is nearly unchanged. The estimated average age is 42 years, lower than the province average (45). 19% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 7.6% of the population. On average, a household has 2.7 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Rosarno declared an average taxable income of 14,094 euros, below the provincial average (19,157 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Rosarno is in climate zone B, with 823 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 December to 31 March, for up to 8 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 67 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Rosarno has 14 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 12 grocery shops and supermarkets, 5 healthcare facilities, 2 sports facilities and 1 green area.

There are 0.3 pharmacies 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 12.7% of the land in Rosarno, compared with 5.8% in the province and 5.1% 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 2 contaminated sites, or sites still under investigation, in Rosarno. 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 Rosarno: 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 Rosarno 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 71 inhabited census areas in Rosarno. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 60 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 3.2%
  • fair 96.8%

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 080069. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.