Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Apricena: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Apricena

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 Veneto 1, Apricena.

Apricena, stone quarries between the Tavoliere and Gargano

The stone quarries are the first thing you notice when you arrive in Apricena. The town sits on the northern edge of the Tavoliere, the great plain of northern Puglia, where it meets the first hills of the Gargano. Apricena stone, a pale limestone used for floors, cladding and building work, is quarried and cut in many quarries and sawmills around the town. The rest of the economy is farming: wheat, olives and vineyards.

San Severo is the nearest town of any size, while Foggia, the provincial capital, lies further south. Apricena is flat, with a compact centre ringed by blocks of flats built over recent decades. If you are looking at a house near the quarrying areas, find out about heavy lorry traffic, dust and noise, which vary a great deal from one street to another.

Istat, the national statistics office, counted 12,513 residents in 2023, down 6.9% on 2011, or 922 fewer people. The average age (45.2) and the share of over-65s (23.4%) are almost identical to those of the province of Foggia. Foreign nationals make up 5.6%. Declared incomes are in line with the province, which is low by Italian standards.

Earthquakes need to be taken seriously. The area between San Severo and the Gargano has a long history of strong shocks. Apricena is in seismic zone 2 of the Civil Protection classification, like 51 of the 61 municipalities in the province, while another 10 are in zone 1, the highest. Expected ground acceleration in the town is about 0.207 g, a high value. In older masonry houses, have a surveyor look at the floors, vaults and the ties between walls before signing.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps here and the report reaches the land parcel from the address. On the plain, flood hazard depends on drainage channels, dips in the ground and how rainwater runs off, so it is read for each individual address.

Key points

  • Home of Apricena stone, between the Tavoliere plain and the Gargano.
  • Residents down 6.9% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected ground acceleration about 0.207 g.
  • Near the quarries, lorries, dust and noise matter.

Overview

Apricena is a municipality in the province of Foggia, in Puglia. At the end of 2023 it had 12,513 residents, ranked 11 of 61 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Apricena is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (51 of 61) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.207 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Apricena, 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 6.9%. The estimated average age is 45 years, in line with the province. 23% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 24%). Foreign residents make up 5.6% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Apricena declared an average taxable income of 18,288 euros, in line with the province (18,478 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Apricena is in climate zone D, with 1,401 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 73 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Apricena has 11 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 8 grocery shops and supermarkets, 4 healthcare facilities, 10 sports facilities and 1 green area.

There are 0.3 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 6.7% of the land in Apricena, compared with 4.1% in the province and 8.2% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 4.8 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Apricena 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 Apricena. 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 Apricena: 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 Apricena 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 47 inhabited census areas in Apricena. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 67 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.2%
  • fair 34.5%
  • good 65.3%

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 071004. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.