Where to live

Living in Sicily: Cities, Costs and Daily Life (2026)

By Maria GarofaloFacts checked October 24, 2026

Average rent (idealista, Q3 2026)

Sicily €8.2 per m² a month; Italy €14.6

Main airports (2025 passengers)

Catania 12.4 million; Palermo 9.2 million

Public healthcare

9 ASPs (provincial health authorities), one per province

Ministry of Health, 2024 data

Below the pass mark on prevention; passed the other 2 areas

Water (ISTAT, 2025)

29.5% of Sicilian households reported irregular supply

7% flat tax on foreign pensions

Towns of up to 30,000 residents

Train from the mainland

Intercity trains cross the Strait of Messina by ferry, about 30 minutes

How Sicily is organized

Sicily has 9 provinces: Palermo, Catania, Messina, Syracuse (Siracusa), Trapani, Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Enna and Ragusa. Each has its own ASP (azienda sanitaria provinciale, provincial health authority), so your province also decides who runs your public healthcare.

The data in this guide comes at three levels. Rent is a city average. Crime and quality-of-life rankings cover whole provinces. Healthcare is scored for the region as a whole.

How the main cities compare

Sources: idealista/data (rent), ISTAT (temperature, measured in each provincial capital) and Il Sole 24 Ore's crime index as reported by La Sicilia (crime).

Palermo. Average rent is €9.5 per m², about two thirds of the national €14.6. From October 2024 to February 2026, the city rotated water cuts across most neighborhoods (see the water section). The province ranked 97th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's 2025 quality-of-life ranking. Palermo scored 551 on EF's 2025 English Proficiency Index, above Rome's 538.

Catania. At €9.6 per m², it has the highest average rent of the Sicilian capitals in idealista's table. Its airport is Sicily's busiest and launched direct New York flights in 2025. The province ranked 96th for quality of life, down 13 places. Il Sole 24 Ore's climate index notes that Catania no longer records cold days, defined as a perceived temperature below 3°C (about 37°F).

Syracuse. Rent averages €9.3 per m², and Intercity trains from the mainland stop here. The city averaged 164 summer days a year (highs above 25°C, or 77°F) in 2006 to 2015. No other Sicilian capital had more. Its province had the island's highest rate of reported crimes in 2025.

Smaller towns and the interior. Caltanissetta is the cheapest provincial capital in Italy, at €4.8 per m². Altitude changes the climate: Enna averaged 14.1°C (57°F) and about 14 frost days a year in 2006 to 2015. Palermo, Catania, Messina, Trapani and Agrigento recorded none. Il Sole 24 Ore gives Enna the lowest heat index of any provincial capital.

For how Sicily compares with the rest of the country, see the best places to live in Italy.

What rent costs across Sicily

idealista, one of Italy's main property portals, put Sicily's average asking rent at €8.2 per m² a month in Q3 2026. That compares with €14.6 for Italy and €18.9 for Lombardy.

At these averages, a 70 m² apartment works out to about €672 a month in Catania, €665 in Palermo and €336 in Caltanissetta. Actual listings vary with the neighborhood, size and condition. The averages exclude seasonal and holiday rentals, which follow a different market.

How leases, deposits and registration work is in Renting in Italy.

Airports and flights to the US

Sicily has two large airports:

• Catania (Vincenzo Bellini): 12,362,395 passengers in 2025, with new direct routes to New York. Its busiest routes were Rome Fiumicino (1.87 million passengers) and Milan Malpensa (1.08 million). The same company, SAC, runs Comiso airport, which handled 133,669 passengers.
• Palermo (Falcone Borsellino): 9.2 million passengers in 2025, a record. Its New York route carried 40,000 passengers, 121% more than in 2024.

Catania airport has its own rail stop, Catania Aeroporto Fontanarossa, built by RFI (Italy's rail network operator) and opened on March 13, 2021. It serves the Palermo to Catania, Messina to Catania to Syracuse, Catania to Caltagirone and Catania to Caltanissetta lines.

Etna's ash can close Catania airport. Between August 6 and 12, 2026, about 630 of 1,974 scheduled flights were diverted and 36% were canceled, according to L'Espresso. SAC called it the most severe emergency in 20 years for the airport. Flights were suspended again on September 14 and 15, according to La Sicilia, and from September 26 to 27, according to Quotidiano di Ragusa.

Trains and roads on the island

From the mainland. Trenitalia runs 10 Intercity connections a day to Sicily, 6 of them overnight. Night trains come from Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples, among others. The train crosses the Strait of Messina on a ferry, which takes about 30 minutes. On the island, Intercity stops include Palermo, Cefalù, Taormina, Catania and Syracuse.

Palermo to Catania. RFI is rebuilding the Palermo to Catania to Messina line, a project worth about €13 billion. The Palermo to Catania part covers 179 km. The 38 km double-track section between Bicocca and Catenanuova opened on October 29, 2025. RFI said the direct Palermo to Catania train would return from November 2, 2025, taking 2 hours 57 minutes. Check current times on Trenitalia before you plan a commute. The trains guide explains fares and ticket types.

Motorways. The Consorzio per le Autostrade Siciliane (CAS) runs the tolled A18 (Messina to Catania) and A20 (Messina to Palermo). Since September 8, 2025, credit cards have been accepted only at staffed toll lanes, and debit cards since October 2025, according to La Sicilia in April 2026. Carry cash or use an electronic toll device. The A19 between Palermo and Catania is run by ANAS, the national roads company, which has a long program of viaduct repairs. In October 2025 one carriageway closed near Resuttano so the Cannatello viaduct could be rebuilt. More in Driving in Italy as an American.

Healthcare: the ASPs and the Ministry's scores

Public healthcare in Sicily runs through 9 ASPs, one for each province, set up by regional law 5 of 2009. The ASP of the province where you are resident pays for your care, even if you are treated in another province. Each ASP is organized into distretti sanitari (health districts), which cover a comune (municipality) or a group of them. The metropolitan areas of Palermo, Catania and Messina can have several districts.

Every year the Ministry of Health scores each region on 3 areas: prevention, community care and hospital care. Each area runs from 0 to 100, and 60 is the pass mark. In the 2024 results, published July 10, 2026, Sicily fell below 60 on prevention and passed the other 2 areas.

Sky TG24 added the 3 area scores from the Ministry's data. Sicily totaled 196 of 300, against 288 for Veneto, the highest. These are regional averages of public-system indicators; they do not rate individual hospitals.

Enrollment is covered in Registering With the SSN. Before you choose a small town, find its health district and nearest hospital on the ASP's website.

Climate: hot coasts, cooler hills

ISTAT publishes weather data for each provincial capital. Averages for 2006 to 2015, with the hottest reading of 2023:

In 2023, Palermo had 120 tropical nights, against its average of 94. When you visit apartments, ask about air conditioning and which way the windows face.

Il Sole 24 Ore's climate index (March 9, 2026) names Agrigento Italy's sunniest provincial capital, with 9.2 hours of sun a day.

Water supply interruptions

Water is the issue to check address by address. ISTAT found that in 2024, 17 of Italy's 109 provincial capitals rationed drinking water, affecting more than 1 million residents. They were concentrated almost entirely in the South, especially in Sicily.

In 2025, 29.5% of Sicilian households reported irregular water supply, against 10.2% nationally. In 2024, the capitals of Sicily and Sardinia delivered 44.3% of the water put into their networks. In the North, 74.2% arrived.

Two recent cases show how this works locally:

• Palermo. AMAP, the city's water company, began rotating 24-hour cuts on October 7, 2024. The plan covered about 250,000 residents. It was suspended in mid-February 2026, after winter rains brought the reservoirs to 51% of capacity.
• Agrigento province. On May 28, 2026, Siciliacque, the island's wholesale supplier, announced cuts to AICA, the province's water utility. Siciliacque cited unpaid bills; AICA contests that account. La Sicilia reported water rotas in towns such as Canicattì.

Ask the landlord how often supply is interrupted and whether the building has a cisterna (storage tank) and autoclave (pressure pump). ISTAT also found that 57.6% of Sicilian households did not trust tap water to drink in 2025.

The 7% flat tax and small towns

Retirees with foreign pensions can opt for a 7% flat tax on all their foreign income. They must move their tax residence to a town of up to 30,000 residents. It can be in Sicily, 7 other southern regions or some central earthquake areas. They must not have been tax resident in Italy in the previous 5 years.

The option lasts for the year of the move and the following 9 years. The rule is Article 24-ter of the income tax code, which becomes Article 247 of Legislative Decree 117/2026 from January 1, 2027. The 7% flat tax guide covers the conditions. Confirm the comune's official population before you sign a lease.

Some Sicilian towns, starting with Salemi and including Gangi and Mussomeli, have offered abandoned houses for €1; the 1-euro houses guide explains the conditions.

What the crime statistics show

Il Sole 24 Ore's crime index ranks 106 provinces by crimes reported to police per 100,000 residents, using Ministry of the Interior data. The 2026 edition covers 2025. A rank of 1st means the most reports: Milan was 1st with 7,017.5.

In Sicily, Syracuse ranked highest at 27th, followed by Palermo (33rd) and Catania (35th). Agrigento ranked 101st, and Enna had the third-lowest rate in Italy (2,165). Reports fell in 8 of the 9 Sicilian provinces, led by Ragusa (down 11.3%), Catania (down 10.5%) and Palermo (down 9.2%).

These are reported crimes, so they also reflect how willing people are to report, a point La Sicilia raises for Catania.

Common problems and fixes

Taps running dry in a rental. Visitors staying in Ortigia (Syracuse's old town) and elsewhere in Sicily posted several times in 2026 about the water stopping without warning. Fix: ask about the storage tank and pump before you sign, and how the building handles rationing days.

A flight into Catania canceled by Etna ash. Travelers reported diversions to Palermo and canceled trips in August and September 2026. Fix: when dates are fixed, choose flexible fares and check the airport's notices. Plan how you would get from Palermo to eastern Sicily.

A card refused at an A18 or A20 toll booth. Fix: carry cash, use a staffed lane, or fit an electronic toll device.

Assuming any Sicilian town qualifies for the 7% tax. The 30,000-resident cap applies to the comune where you take residence. Fix: check the population and your income type against the law first.

An inland house in winter. Enna averaged about 14 frost days a year in 2006 to 2015. Fix: ask what heating the house has and what it costs to run.

Do you need help moving to Sicily?

Many people settle in Sicily on their own, especially in Palermo or Catania after a short-term rental to test neighborhoods. It gets harder when a small town, the 7% tax, reliable water and a lease that allows residence registration must line up from abroad.