Altamura: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Bari, Puglia. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
Liveability index free for any address
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Search for an address in Altamura
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 Trieste 3, Altamura.
Altamura, bread, a cathedral and the Alta Murgia
Altamura sits on the Murgia plateau at around 470 metres, near the border with Basilicata and not far from Matera. Many people know it for its protected-origin bread, baked in wood-fired ovens, and for Altamura Man, the Neanderthal skeleton found in the Lamalunga cave. The cathedral commissioned by Emperor Frederick II dominates the old town, and the Alta Murgia National Park spreads around the city.
The old centre is built around claustri, small enclosed courtyards shared by several homes. These are stone houses, often on several levels, and buyers should budget for work on wiring and plumbing, damp and access. Outside the walls the town has spread with blocks of flats and small villas, while the countryside holds masserie (fortified farmhouses) and scattered houses. For Bari there is the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane railway, which continues to Matera, and the SS96 road.
It is a young town by the standards of Apulia: average age 42.1 against 45.8 for the province of Bari, over-65s at 18.6%, and large households averaging 2.80 people. Istat, the national statistics office, counted 70,093 residents in 2023, up 0.8% on 2011. Foreign residents make up 4.5%.
Earthquake hazard is moderate: seismic zone 3, like 33 other municipalities in the province, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.100 g. The climate, on the other hand, needs factoring in. In climate zone D, winters on the plateau are cold and windy, and a poorly insulated stone house is expensive to heat.
The Murgia is limestone karst, with caves and hollows, and storms can send water rushing down the lame, the natural gullies that cut across the plateau. Landslide and flood hazard are checked for each address.
Key points
- Protected bread, Frederick II's cathedral and the Alta Murgia park.
- Average age 42.1, against 45.8 in the province.
- Households of 2.80 people on average.
- Seismic zone 3, but cold winters on the plateau.
Overview
Altamura is a municipality in the province of Bari, in Puglia. At the end of 2023 it had 70,093 residents, the second most populous in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Altamura is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Most municipalities in the province (34 of 41) are in the same zone.
In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.100 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 number of residents is nearly unchanged. The estimated average age is 42 years, lower than the province average (46). 19% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 4.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.8 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Altamura declared an average taxable income of 20,447 euros, below the provincial average (21,788 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Altamura is in climate zone D, with 1,858 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 November to 15 April, for up to 12 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 468 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Altamura has 42 schools and 21 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 45 grocery shops and supermarkets, 55 healthcare facilities, 44 sports facilities and 5 parks and green areas.
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 4.7% of the land in Altamura, compared with 9.7% in the province and 8.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 7.3 hectares.
Radon and contaminated sites
Altamura is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Puglia in 2025. 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 Altamura, and one more has 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 Altamura: 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 Altamura 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 245 inhabited census areas in Altamura. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 75 or more.
Residents by band
- modest 0.0%
- fair 6.5%
- good 93.5%
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
- 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.
- Radon priority areas (Legislative Decree 101/2020), Regione Puglia, national list compiled by ARPA Lombardia. Licence Atto pubblico (art. 5 L. 633/1941), 2025.
- 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 072004. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.