Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Scanno: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Scanno

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: Viale del Lago 1, Scanno.

Scanno, a stone village above its lake

You reach Scanno by climbing the Sagittario gorge, a narrow road between rock walls that opens onto the lake of the same name and then the village, above a thousand metres. It is a compact settlement of stone houses, alleys and stairways on the edge of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park. The women in traditional dress photographed by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Mario Giacomelli made these streets known far beyond Abruzzo.

Visitors come in summer for the lake and in winter for the snow. Buying in the old centre means accepting access on foot, parking at a distance and work on old buildings. The climate zone is F, the coldest, so heating and insulation have a real effect on running costs.

Istat, the national statistics office, counts 1,697 residents in 2023, down 12.9% from 1,948 in 2011. The population is older than the provincial average, with a mean age of 51.1 against 47.5 and over-65s at 33.4%. Foreign residents are 3.5%, and declared incomes are below the average for the province of L'Aquila.

Scanno is in seismic zone 1, the highest class in the Civil Protection classification, like 102 other municipalities in the province, with an expected ground acceleration of 0.263 g. For a masonry house, ask whether any seismic strengthening has been carried out and get the paperwork for it. The report also checks the official landslide maps for the slopes and finds the cadastral parcel, as the Revenue Agency maps are published.

Key points

  • Mountain village above its lake, over a thousand metres up.
  • Seismic zone 1, expected acceleration 0.263 g.
  • Population down 12.9% since 2011, over-65s at 33.4%.
  • Pedestrian old centre, many holiday homes.

Overview

Scanno is a municipality in the province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo. At the end of 2023 it had 1,697 residents, ranked 29 of 108 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Scanno is in seismic zone 1, the highest-risk zone, where very strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (103 of 108) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.263 g, a high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Scanno, 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 12.9%. The estimated average age is 51 years, higher than the province average (48). 33% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 26%). Foreign residents make up 3.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.0 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Scanno declared an average taxable income of 19,129 euros, below the provincial average (22,903 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Scanno is in climate zone F, with 3,160 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 1,050 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Scanno has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 grocery shop and 2 sports facilities.

The data shows no healthcare facilities within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.6 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 0.8% of the land in Scanno, compared with 3.2% 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 no contaminated sites in Scanno.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Scanno: 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 Scanno 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 12 inhabited census areas in Scanno. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 60 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 100.0%

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 066093. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.