Skip to content
Vicinalia
Italiano Sign up

Cefalù: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Cefalù

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 Veterani 1, Cefalù.

Cefalù, the Rocca, the Norman cathedral and the sea

The Rocca, a limestone headland rising above the sea, closes off the back of Cefalù's old town, squeezed between rock and beach. Among the houses stands the Norman cathedral, part of the UNESCO Arab-Norman route alongside monuments in Palermo and Monreale. The town lies on the Tyrrhenian coast east of Palermo, at the foot of the Madonie mountains.

It is one of Sicily's best-known resorts, and the housing market follows. In the old town houses are small, often spread over several floors with narrow stairs, and many have become holiday homes and short lets; outside the centre are newer districts and, along the coast, villas and holiday complexes. If you want to live here all year, expect prices pushed up by tourism and lanes that are hard to walk in summer. For Palermo there is the Palermo to Messina railway, with a station in Cefalù, and the A20 motorway.

There are 13,861 residents in 2023, down 3.4% since 2011. The population is older than the province's: over-65s at 28.4% against 22.8%, with an average age of 48.5. Foreign residents make up 3.5%. Tourism shows in the bars and restaurants: 13.06 per 1,000 residents, against 4.27 in the province.

Cefalù is in seismic zone 2, like nearly all the province of Palermo, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.174 g. In the old town's masonry houses, often centuries old, have load-bearing walls, floors and roofs checked, and ask whether any strengthening work has been done.

Below the Rocca and on the steep slopes, the report also checks landslide hazard for the address.

Key points

  • Old town between the Rocca and the sea, UNESCO cathedral.
  • Station on the Palermo-Messina line and the A20 motorway.
  • Over-65s at 28.4%, against 22.8% in the province.
  • Seismic zone 2; acceleration about 0.174 g.

Overview

Cefalù is a municipality in the province of Palermo, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 13,861 residents, among the most populous in the province (9 of 82).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Cefalù is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (81 of 82) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.174 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Cefalù, 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 3.4%. The estimated average age is 48 years, higher than the province average (45). 28% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 3.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Cefalù declared an average taxable income of 21,244 euros, in line with the province (21,337 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Cefalù is in climate zone B, with 702 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 December to 31 March, for up to 8 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 16 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Cefalù has 14 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 13 grocery shops and supermarkets, 11 healthcare facilities, 14 sports facilities and 4 parks and green areas.

There are 0.9 grocery shops and supermarkets per 1,000 residents, more 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 8.8% of the land in Cefalù, compared with 5.7% in the province and 6.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Cefalù.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Cefalù: 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 Cefalù 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 104 inhabited census areas in Cefalù. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 63 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 5.6%
  • fair 50.1%
  • good 34.3%
  • very good 10.0%

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 082027. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.