Vico Equense: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Napoli, Campania. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
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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 Raffaele Bosco 1, Vico Equense.
Vico Equense, between Monte Faito and the Sorrento coast
Coming from Castellammare di Stabia, Vico Equense is the first town on the Sorrento peninsula. The old centre sits on a tuff cliff dropping straight into the sea, while the municipality climbs up to Monte Faito in the Lattari mountains. The hill villages, such as Moiano, Ticciano and Arola, feel almost alpine in climate and character; along the shore are small harbour hamlets such as Seiano.
Buyers are choosing between very different settings only a few minutes' drive apart. In the centre and along the Sorrento road, homes are often in old buildings with little parking. Up in the hills there are houses with land and a view over the bay, but the roads are narrow and winding. The Circumvesuviana railway links the town with Sorrento and Naples, and in summer coastal traffic adds a lot to journey times. The steep slopes of the massif are prone to landslides and mudflows, and the report checks the official maps for the exact address.
Istat, the national statistics office, counted 20,263 residents in 2023, down 2.8% on 2011. The average age, 44.2, is slightly above that of the Naples metropolitan area, one of the youngest in Italy, and foreign residents are just 1.8%. Households have 2.63 members on average.
Tourism and day trips from the city show in the number of places to eat: 137 cafés and restaurants, 6.76 per 1,000 residents against 4.49 in the province.
On earthquakes, Vico Equense is in zone 3 of the national classification by the Civil Protection Department, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.104 g; most municipalities around Naples, 76 of them, are in zone 2. In old tuff houses it is worth having a surveyor look at load-bearing walls, floors and any storeys added over the years, and asking whether structural checks exist. The Revenue Agency's cadastral maps cover the whole municipality.
Key points
- From the clifftop centre to hill villages below Monte Faito.
- 20,263 residents in 2023, down 2.8% since 2011.
- 6.76 cafés and restaurants per 1,000 residents.
- Seismic zone 3; landslides to check on the slopes.
Overview
Vico Equense is a municipality in the province of Napoli, in Campania. At the end of 2023 it had 20,263 residents, ranked 38 of 92 municipalities in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Vico Equense is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Only 16 of 92 municipalities in the province are in zone 3.
In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.104 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.
Even in zone 3, seismic standards apply to new buildings: for an older building, ask about the design year and any structural work.
Population
Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 2.8%. The estimated average age is 44 years, in line with the province. 22% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 21%). Foreign residents make up 1.8% of the population. On average, a household has 2.6 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Vico Equense declared an average taxable income of 21,562 euros, in line with the province (21,545 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Vico Equense is in climate zone C, with 1,174 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 90 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Vico Equense has 14 schools and 6 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 12 grocery shops and supermarkets, 9 healthcare facilities, 11 sports facilities and 4 parks and green areas.
There are 0.4 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.6).
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 12.8% of the land in Vico Equense, compared with 34.9% 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 no contaminated sites in Vico Equense.
Landslides and flooding
Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Vico Equense: 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 Vico Equense 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 79 inhabited census areas in Vico Equense. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 62 or more.
Residents by band
- modest 2.3%
- fair 61.0%
- good 36.7%
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 063086. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.