Lercara Friddi: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Palermo, Sicilia. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
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Search for an address in Lercara Friddi
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 Giulio Aristide Sartorio 1, Lercara Friddi.
Lercara Friddi, a sulphur-mining town between Palermo and Agrigento
For more than a century Lercara Friddi lived off sulphur. The mines made the town grow in the nineteenth century and shaped its history until they closed, and the remains of the old workings are still part of the landscape. The town stands inland at around 660 metres, on the route from Palermo down to Agrigento, among hills planted with wheat. This is where the family of Frank Sinatra's father left from for the United States.
The town has lost many residents, and there are plenty of empty, often inherited, houses on the market at low prices. If you are thinking of moving here or buying a holiday home, you get space and quiet, but distances need thinking about: for hospitals, the university and flights you go to Palermo, and inland roads take time. The area is in climate zone D, with cool winters and occasional snow.
Istat, the national statistics institute, counted 6,115 residents in 2023, 820 fewer than in 2011, a drop of 11.8%. The average age is 46.8 against 44.7 for the province of Palermo, over-65s make up 26.0% and foreign residents only 1.4%. Average incomes are well below the provincial level.
Lercara is in seismic zone 2, like 80 other municipalities in the metropolitan city of Palermo, where 1 is in zone 1. The expected ground acceleration here is about 0.090 g, a medium value. Masonry houses in the centre, often raised or extended over the years, should be checked by a surveyor before you buy.
The clay hills of inland Sicily are prone to landslides and ground movement, and slopes in the town vary a lot from street to street, so the report checks landslide hazard for each address. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps, and the report traces the plot from the address.
Key points
- Former sulphur-mining town at around 660 metres inland.
- 820 fewer residents than in 2011.
- Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.090 g.
- Low house prices, but Palermo and its services are far away.
Overview
Lercara Friddi is a municipality in the province of Palermo, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 6,115 residents, ranked 28 of 82 municipalities in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Lercara Friddi 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 0.090 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.
For anyone buying in Lercara Friddi, 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 11.8%. The estimated average age is 47 years, higher than the province average (45). 26% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 1.4% of the population. On average, a household has 2.3 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Lercara Friddi declared an average taxable income of 16,987 euros, below the provincial average (21,337 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Lercara Friddi is in climate zone D, with 1,574 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 660 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Lercara Friddi has 6 schools and 3 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 7 grocery shops and supermarkets, 2 healthcare facilities, 1 sports facility and 1 green area.
There are 0.3 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.7).
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 5.6% of the land in Lercara Friddi, compared with 5.7% in the province and 6.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 1.1 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 one contaminated site, or site still under investigation, in Lercara Friddi, 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 Lercara Friddi: 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 Lercara Friddi 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 41 inhabited census areas in Lercara Friddi. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 78 or more.
Residents by band
- fair 11.5%
- good 52.1%
- very good 36.4%
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
- 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.
- 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 082045. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.