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Sarno: 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 Sarno

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 Nuova Lavorate 1, Sarno.

Sarno, the river's springs and the slopes of Pizzo d'Alvano

For most Italians the name Sarno recalls 5 May 1998, when mudflows came down from the mountains behind the town and swept away houses and roads, killing more than 150 people in Sarno and the neighbouring villages. The hamlet of Episcopio was among the worst hit. Since then basins and channels have been built on the slopes of Pizzo d'Alvano to hold back and divert the mud, but the mountain is unchanged, covered with layers of volcanic ash that can slide after long spells of rain.

For a buyer, then, location matters more than anything else. Areas at the foot of the mountain and along the gullies need careful checking, while the plain towards the river raises a different issue, water. The Sarno rises right here, from springs at the foot of the hills, and crosses the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese, a farming plain crowded with towns. The report checks landslide and flood hazard on the official maps for the exact address, plot by plot.

The town is also a transport hub: the Circumvesuviana suburban line from Naples ends here. There were 30,734 residents in 2023, down 1.0% since 2011, so nearly stable. The population is young: an average age of 43.1 against 45.2 for the province of Salerno and over-65s at 19.7%. Foreign nationals make up 7.6%, many working on the farms of the plain, and average incomes are below the provincial figure.

Earthquake hazard counts too. Sarno is in zone 2 of the Civil Protection classification, like 96 other municipalities in the province, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.154 g; further inland, towards the border with Irpinia, 18 municipalities are in zone 1. For a building put up or repaired after 1980, ask for the paperwork on the work done, and for older ones a structural assessment.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes its cadastral maps, so the report finds the plot from the address.

Key points

  • 1998 mudflows: a site below the mountain must be checked.
  • End of the Circumvesuviana line from Naples.
  • Population down 1.0% since 2011, average age 43.1.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.154 g.

Overview

Sarno is a municipality in the province of Salerno, in Campania. At the end of 2023 it had 30,734 residents, among the most populous in the province (9 of 158).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Sarno 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 0.154 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Sarno, 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 43 years, lower than the province average (45). 20% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 21%). Foreign residents make up 7.6% of the population. On average, a household has 2.6 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Sarno declared an average taxable income of 17,684 euros, below the provincial average (19,912 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Sarno is in climate zone C, with 1,178 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 30 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Sarno has 44 schools and 9 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 21 grocery shops and supermarkets, 15 healthcare facilities, 16 sports facilities and 8 parks and green areas.

There are 0.5 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer 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 19.3% of the land in Sarno, compared with 8.0% in the province and 10.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.6 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Official databases list one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Sarno, 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 Sarno: 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 Sarno 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 172 inhabited census areas in Sarno. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 59 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 7.4%
  • fair 74.2%
  • good 18.4%

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 065135. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.