Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Aragona: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Aragona

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: Contrada Ranciditi 1, Aragona.

Aragona, the Macalube mud volcanoes and inland Agrigento

Aragona is an inland town in the province of Agrigento, on the hills north of the provincial capital, at about four hundred metres. The town looks out over a landscape of wheat fields, pasture and clay. Just outside town is the Macalube nature reserve, where small mud volcanoes push water and clay up from underground, something rarely seen in Italy.

Agrigento is about twenty minutes away by car, and for jobs, the hospital and secondary schools many residents rely on Agrigento or Palermo, along the main road that crosses the island. Homes are cheap, as in much of inland Sicily, and the market consists mainly of multi-storey detached houses, often empty for years or inherited. Before buying, look carefully at the condition of roofs, floors and wiring and plumbing.

The population has long been falling: 8,682 residents in 2023 according to Istat, the national statistics institute, 8.5% fewer than in 2011, or 811 people. The mean age is 46.5, a little above the province (45.6), 24.5% are over 65 and foreign residents are 4.5%. Declared incomes are slightly above the provincial average, which is itself among the lowest in Italy.

Aragona is in seismic zone 2 of the Civil Protection classification, like 27 of the 43 municipalities in the province of Agrigento, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.060 g, a moderate figure for the area. In older masonry houses the useful questions concern the ties between walls and floors and any existing cracks, which an engineer should inspect.

On the clay soils of inland Sicily landslides are a serious matter, and the slope of the plot always needs checking. The report reads the official maps at the address and, thanks to the cadastral maps published by the Revenue Agency, identifies the land parcel.

Key points

  • Inland, north of Agrigento, near the Macalube reserve.
  • Population down 8.5% since 2011.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.060 g.
  • Clay soils: check landslides and slope on the plot.

Overview

Aragona is a municipality in the province of Agrigento, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 8,682 residents, ranked 13 of 43 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Aragona is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (27 of 43) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.060 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Aragona, 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 8.5%. The estimated average age is 47 years, in line with the province. 24% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 4.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Aragona declared an average taxable income of 18,883 euros, in line with the province (18,027 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Aragona is in climate zone C, with 1,149 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 400 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Aragona has 9 schools and 3 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 5 grocery shops and supermarkets, 3 healthcare facilities, 4 sports facilities and 3 parks and green areas.

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 6.3% of the land in Aragona, compared with 5.8% in the province and 6.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.7 hectares.

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 no contaminated sites in Aragona.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Aragona: 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 Aragona 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 78 inhabited census areas in Aragona. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 76 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 0.1%
  • fair 18.3%
  • good 72.2%
  • very good 9.4%

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 084003. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.