Sant'Omero: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
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Search for an address in Sant'Omero
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 Capo di Fuori 1, Sant'Omero.
Sant'Omero, the Val Vibrata hospital and Santa Maria a Vico
For people living in the Val Vibrata, the northernmost corner of the province of Teramo, Sant'Omero is first of all the hospital town: it hosts the hospital that serves much of the valley. The centre sits on a hill at around 200 metres, with the fields and industrial buildings of the valley floor below and the Teramo coast not far off. Just outside the village stands Santa Maria a Vico, a Romanesque church regarded as one of the oldest in Abruzzo.
The Val Vibrata is one of the region's busiest productive areas, dotted with small firms, and the municipality reflects that: scattered country houses, small villas along the ridges, some recent low-rise flats and a compact historic centre. For anyone working at the hospital or in the valley's firms, journeys are short; for Teramo and the beaches you need a car.
There are 5,132 residents (2023), down 3.4% on 2011. Foreign residents make up 11.7% and over-65s 26.8%, against 24.8% in the province. The average age is 47.5.
Earthquake hazard needs to be taken seriously. Sant'Omero is in seismic zone 2 on the Civil Protection scale, like 37 municipalities around Teramo, while another 10 are in zone 1, the highest; the expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is about 0.176 g. Before buying a masonry house or a building from the 1960s or 1970s, ask whether a seismic vulnerability assessment has been carried out and what structural work is on record.
The Teramo hills are largely clay, and on the steeper slopes the ground moves: the report checks the landslide and flood hazard maps for the exact address. The cadastral maps of the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) are published, so the plot can be traced.
Key points
- Home of the Val Vibrata hospital, in the north of Teramo province.
- Foreign residents at 11.7%, over-65s at 26.8%.
- Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.176 g.
- Clay hills: landslide hazard to check plot by plot.
Overview
Sant'Omero is a municipality in the province of Teramo, in Abruzzo. At the end of 2023 it had 5,132 residents, ranked 18 of 47 municipalities in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Sant'Omero is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (37 of 47) are in the same zone.
In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.176 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.
For anyone buying in Sant'Omero, 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 3.4%. The estimated average age is 47 years, in line with the province. 27% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 26%). Foreign residents make up 11.7% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Sant'Omero declared an average taxable income of 20,460 euros, in line with the province (21,288 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Sant'Omero is in climate zone D, with 1,571 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 November to 15 April, for up to 12 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 209 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Sant'Omero has 6 schools and 3 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 4 grocery shops and supermarkets, 3 healthcare facilities, 4 sports facilities and 1 green area.
There are 0.6 pharmacies per 1,000 residents, more 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 8.7% of the land in Sant'Omero, compared with 6.7% in the province and 5.1% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.6 hectares.
Radon and contaminated sites
According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is low. 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 Sant'Omero, 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 Sant'Omero: 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 Sant'Omero 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 34 inhabited census areas in Sant'Omero. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 57 or more.
Residents by band
- modest 11.7%
- fair 88.3%
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.
- 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 067039. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.