Mazara del Vallo: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Trapani, Sicilia. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
Liveability index free for any address
Land sheet 6 free checks
Search for an address in Mazara del Vallo
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 Salemi 1, Mazara del Vallo.
Mazara del Vallo, fishing boats and the casbah
Mazara del Vallo looks out over the Strait of Sicily from the island's south-western tip, where the river Mazaro meets the sea. Its canal harbour holds one of the largest fishing fleets in Italy, and fishing for red prawns has tied the town to Tunisia on the other side of the water. Many Tunisian families have lived for decades in the old centre, in the maze of narrow lanes locals call the casbah. A museum in the church of Sant'Egidio displays the Dancing Satyr, a bronze statue pulled from the sea by a Mazara trawler.
Connections are good for western Sicily. The A29 motorway starts here and runs to Palermo, and the coastal railway links Mazara with Marsala and Trapani. The town is almost entirely flat, a few metres above sea level. Buyers choose between the old centre, where houses are old and often need work, newer districts further inland, and the coastal areas, where many homes are only lived in during the summer.
The population has barely moved: 50,029 residents in 2023 according to Istat, the national statistics office, against 49,995 at the 2011 census. People here are younger than in the province of Trapani as a whole, with an average age of 44.5 against 46.0. Foreign residents make up 6.9%, many of them of Tunisian origin. Declared incomes are close to the provincial average.
Mazara is in seismic zone 2 on the Civil Protection Department's scale, like 17 other municipalities in the province, yet the expected ground acceleration in the built-up area is only about 0.060 g. The practical risk lies in the stone houses of the old town, many altered over the years: before signing, have a surveyor check the load-bearing walls, floors and roof.
The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the land registry maps for Mazara, so the report can trace an address to its plot. Near the mouth of the Mazaro and in low-lying coastal areas, it is worth checking the flood maps for each individual house.
Key points
- One of Italy's largest fishing fleets and a casbah in the old town.
- Population almost unchanged since 2011: 50,029 in 2023.
- Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.060 g.
- A29 motorway to Palermo and a railway to Marsala and Trapani.
Overview
Mazara del Vallo is a municipality in the province of Trapani, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 50,029 residents, the third most populous in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Mazara del Vallo is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (18 of 25) 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 Mazara del Vallo, 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 number of residents is nearly unchanged. The estimated average age is 44 years, in line with the province. 23% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 6.9% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Mazara del Vallo declared an average taxable income of 18,462 euros, in line with the province (18,927 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Mazara del Vallo is in climate zone C, with 927 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 8 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Mazara del Vallo has 43 schools and 13 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 26 grocery shops and supermarkets, 34 healthcare facilities, 39 sports facilities and 6 parks and green areas.
There are 0.5 grocery shops and supermarkets 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 6.9% of the land in Mazara del Vallo, compared with 7.9% in the province and 6.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 16.4 hectares.
Radon and contaminated sites
Official databases list no open contaminated sites in Mazara del Vallo; 8 have been cleaned up or closed.
Landslides and flooding
Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Mazara del Vallo: 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 Mazara del Vallo 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 386 inhabited census areas in Mazara del Vallo. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 72 or more.
Residents by band
- modest 0.6%
- fair 24.4%
- good 57.2%
- very good 17.9%
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 081012. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.