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Acerenza: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Acerenza

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: Corso Vittorio Emanuele Terzo 1, Acerenza.

Acerenza, the cathedral on the rock above the Bradano

You can spot Acerenza from a long way off. The town covers the top of an isolated hill at more than eight hundred metres in northern Basilicata, and the large Romanesque cathedral, seat of one of the oldest dioceses in the region, rises above the roofs. Below, farmed hills drop towards the Bradano valley.

The old centre is compact and steep, with narrow lanes, flights of steps and stone houses on several floors. Prices are low, but the older houses often need major work on roofs, walls and services. Potenza is under an hour away by car, and that is where people go for offices, the hospital and secondary schools.

Depopulation shows in the figures: Istat, the national statistics office, counted 2,074 residents in 2023, down 18.8% on 2011. The average age is 48.7 (province: 47.3), 27.5% are over 65 and 3.1% are foreign nationals. Declared incomes are a little below the provincial average.

The province is among the most earthquake-prone in Italy. Acerenza is in seismic zone 2 with expected ground acceleration of 0.135 g, while 40 other municipalities in the province are in zone 1, the highest. For a stone house in the old town, the key questions are whether it has been strengthened and whether the building permits are in order.

Winters at this height are cold and windy, so insulation and heating make a real difference to running costs. Landslides and flooding are assessed on the parcel itself: the report finds it on the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) maps and checks it against the official hazard maps.

Key points

  • Hilltop town crowned by its Romanesque cathedral.
  • Population down 18.8% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration 0.135 g.
  • Cheap stone houses, often in need of major work.

Overview

Acerenza is a municipality in the province of Potenza, in Basilicata. At the end of 2023 it had 2,074 residents, ranked 45 of 100 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Acerenza is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. The region uses a finer breakdown: here the classification is 2d. Most municipalities in the province (59 of 100) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.135 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Acerenza, 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 18.8%. The estimated average age is 49 years, in line with the province. 27% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 25%). Foreign residents make up 3.1% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Acerenza declared an average taxable income of 18,256 euros, below the provincial average (20,337 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Acerenza is in climate zone E, with 2,270 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 October to 15 April, for up to 14 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 833 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Acerenza has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 3 grocery shops and supermarkets and 1 sports facility.

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 3.9% of the land in Acerenza, compared with 3.5% in the province and 3.2% 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 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 Acerenza. 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 Acerenza: 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 Acerenza 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 23 inhabited census areas in Acerenza. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 74 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 12.6%
  • good 87.4%

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 076002. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.