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Sapri: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Sapri

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 John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1, Sapri.

Sapri, at the head of the Gulf of Policastro

Sapri sits at the head of the Gulf of Policastro, at the southern tip of Campania, where the Cilento coast meets the Basilicata coast around Maratea. The town fills a small bay closed in by mountains, with a seafront promenade, a little harbour and houses climbing the lower slopes. Its name is tied to Carlo Pisacane's landing in 1857, the subject of Luigi Mercantini's poem about the gleaner of Sapri, which many Italians learned at school.

For the gulf and the inland villages, Sapri is the local hub, with a hospital, secondary schools and a station on the Tyrrhenian railway where long-distance trains to Naples and Rome also stop. Buyers choose between flats in the centre, close to the sea and services, and houses on the hills behind, with better views and steeper ground. Many properties are second homes, used mainly in summer.

There were 6,390 residents at the end of 2023 according to Istat, the national statistics office, down 6.2% on 2011. Sapri is older than the province of Salerno: average age 48.1 against 45.2, over-65s at 28.0% against 22.7%. Foreign residents make up 4.2% and declared incomes are above the provincial average.

In the province of Salerno, 18 municipalities are in seismic zone 1 and 97 in zone 2 on the Civil Protection scale, Sapri among them, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.151 g. For blocks built during the post-war building boom, ask to see the structural design and sign-off certificate before making an offer.

The steep slopes around the bay and the streams running down to the sea make it worth checking landslide and flood hazard at the individual address, which the report does with the official maps. The cadastral maps are published, so the report goes from the address to the land parcel.

Key points

  • A bay at the head of the Gulf of Policastro, on the Basilicata border.
  • Station on the Tyrrhenian line with trains to Naples and Rome.
  • Over-65s at 28.0% against 22.7% in the province.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.151 g.

Overview

Sapri is a municipality in the province of Salerno, in Campania. At the end of 2023 it had 6,390 residents, ranked 39 of 158 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Sapri is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (97 of 158) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.151 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Sapri, 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 6.2%. The estimated average age is 48 years, higher than the province average (45). 28% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 21%). Foreign residents make up 4.2% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Sapri declared an average taxable income of 20,738 euros, in line with the province (19,912 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Sapri is in climate zone C, with 938 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, Sapri has 12 schools and 2 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 6 grocery shops and supermarkets, 8 healthcare facilities, 7 sports facilities and 1 green area.

There are 1.3 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.7).

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 12.3% of the land in Sapri, compared with 8.0% in the province and 10.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Official databases list one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Sapri. 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 Sapri: 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 Sapri 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 31 inhabited census areas in Sapri. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 67 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.4%
  • fair 35.1%
  • good 64.5%

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 065134. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.