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Sinnai: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Sinnai

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 Roma 1, Sinnai.

Sinnai, Cagliari's doorstep below the Sette Fratelli

About twenty kilometres north-east of Cagliari, Sinnai spreads out at the foot of the hills that climb towards the Sette Fratelli massif. The municipality is very large and almost entirely undeveloped: woods, Mediterranean scrub and mountains inland and, beyond the hills, a stretch of the south-east coast around Solanas.

Many residents work in Cagliari or elsewhere in the metropolitan area and chose Sinnai for a detached house, often with a courtyard or garden, at lower prices than the city. The town has grown with estates of small houses around the historic centre, where traditional homes built around an inner courtyard survive. Getting about means the road, so for anyone who does not drive the distance to the nearest bus stop matters, and the report measures it from the address.

While many Sardinian villages are emptying, Sinnai is gaining residents: 17,279 in 2023 according to Istat, the national statistics office, up 3.3% since 2011. It is also younger than average, with an average age of 45.7 against 48.1 in the province and over-65s at 21.2%. Foreign nationals are few, 1.5% of residents, and average declared incomes are below the Cagliari area. Shops and services are sparser than the provincial average, so many people shop in Quartu or Cagliari.

Like the whole of Sardinia, Sinnai is in seismic zone 4, the lowest hazard class on the Civil Protection Department's scale, with expected ground acceleration of about 0.050 g. Other things matter more here: slopes in the upper parts of town, channels that can swell within hours after autumn storms, and summer wildfires for houses close to woodland and scrub. The report checks the landslide and flood maps for the address, and the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps are published.

Key points

  • Cagliari's hinterland, at the foot of the Sette Fratelli.
  • 17,279 residents, up 3.3% since 2011.
  • Average age 45.7, below the provincial average.
  • Seismic zone 4, like the whole of Sardinia.

Overview

Sinnai is a municipality in the province of Cagliari, in Sardegna. At the end of 2023 it had 17,279 residents, ranked 8 of 70 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Sinnai is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 70 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.050 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

In zone 4 the risk is low, but for an older building it is still worth asking about the state of the structure.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has grown by 3.3%. The estimated average age is 46 years, lower than the province average (48). 21% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 1.5% of the population. On average, a household has 2.4 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Sinnai declared an average taxable income of 20,912 euros, below the provincial average (24,865 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Sinnai is in climate zone C, with 1,019 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 133 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Sinnai has 14 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 8 grocery shops and supermarkets, 12 healthcare facilities, 15 sports facilities and 3 parks and green areas.

There are 0.2 pharmacies per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.3).

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 2.2% of the land in Sinnai, compared with 3.4% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 2.1 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Sinnai is one of the municipalities designated as a radon priority area by the Regione Sardegna in 2022. According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is medium. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Sinnai: 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 Sinnai 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 54 inhabited census areas in Sinnai. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 83 or more.

Residents by band

  • good 10.6%
  • very good 89.4%

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 118058. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.