Palma di Montechiaro: what to know before buying a home
A municipality in the province of Agrigento, Sicilia. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.
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Search for an address in Palma di Montechiaro
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 Cangiamila 1, Palma di Montechiaro.
Palma di Montechiaro, the Tomasi town on the Agrigento coast
Palma di Montechiaro is bound up with The Leopard. It was founded in the seventeenth century by the Tomasi family, ancestors of the novelist Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, and the old centre still has the mother church and ducal palace from that period. The town stands in the hills a few kilometres inland, on Sicily's south coast between Agrigento and Licata. On the coast itself, on a rocky spur above the sea, stands the castle of Montechiaro.
The housing stock is mainly town houses and small blocks built from the 1970s on, some of them never quite finished, as in many towns in southern Italy. For a buyer the first check is planning compliance: a surveyor needs to compare the property with the building permits and the cadastral floor plans. Towards the sea there are summer houses, used mostly in the warm months.
The town is emptying: 21,369 residents in 2023 according to Istat, the national statistics office, 9.6% fewer than in 2011, a loss of 2,274 people, largely through emigration to northern Italy and abroad. Those who remain are fairly young, with an estimated average age of 43.3 against 45.6 for the province. Foreign nationals make up 2.4% and declared incomes are well below the provincial average.
The province of Agrigento has 27 municipalities in seismic zone 2 and 3 in zone 1. Palma di Montechiaro is in zone 3, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.055 g, a low value. Even where the hazard is limited, build quality counts for a lot, especially in buildings put up quickly or extended over time.
The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps here and the report finds the land parcel from the address. In hilly country sloping down to the sea, landslide and flood hazard is checked for each individual address.
Key points
- Founded by the Tomasi, ancestors of the author of The Leopard.
- Castle of Montechiaro on a rocky spur above the sea.
- Population down 9.6% since 2011.
- Seismic zone 3, expected ground acceleration about 0.055 g.
Overview
Palma di Montechiaro is a municipality in the province of Agrigento, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 21,369 residents, ranked 6 of 43 municipalities in the province.
Earthquakes
For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Palma di Montechiaro is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. Only 12 of 43 municipalities in the province are in zone 3.
In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.055 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.
Even in zone 3, seismic standards apply to new buildings: for an older building, ask about the design year and any structural work.
Population
Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 9.6%. The estimated average age is 43 years, lower than the province average (46). 22% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 2.4% of the population. On average, a household has 2.6 members.
Income and climate
In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Palma di Montechiaro declared an average taxable income of 14,454 euros, below the provincial average (18,027 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.
Palma di Montechiaro is in climate zone B, with 829 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 165 metres above sea level.
Services
In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Palma di Montechiaro has 22 schools and 7 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 10 grocery shops and supermarkets, 5 healthcare facilities, 5 sports facilities and 1 green area.
There are 0.2 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 7.6% of the land in Palma di Montechiaro, compared with 5.8% in the province and 6.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 0.9 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 open contaminated sites in Palma di Montechiaro; 2 have been cleaned up or closed.
Landslides and flooding
Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Palma di Montechiaro: 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 Palma di Montechiaro 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 84 inhabited census areas in Palma di Montechiaro. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 79 or more.
Residents by band
- fair 3.6%
- good 48.8%
- very good 47.6%
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 084027. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.