Living in Sicily is a realistic choice in 2026 if you can bring your income with you and accept slower paperwork. In the two main cities, Catania and Palermo, advertised rents averaged about €9.70 per square metre a month in September 2026, so a 50 m² one-bedroom is typically around €480–520. Households on the Italian islands spent €2,338 a month on average in 2025, against €2,782 nationally (ISTAT).
The trade-offs are local jobs, bureaucracy and, for non-EU citizens, a visa, a residence permit and either private insurance or a yearly fee to join the public health service.
This guide compares Catania and Palermo with dated figures, walks through residency and healthcare with official sources, and ends with what the shift means for landlords and hosts.
Is Sicily a good place to live?
Step under the stone arch into Catania's fish market and the scene opens up: fishmongers leaning over their stalls, crates on wet paving, red parasols and a canopy of coloured umbrellas strung between the balconies. It is a working market, not a stage set. Daily life in Sicily's cities still runs on markets, bars and short walks, and that rhythm is what most people who move here are really choosing.
Sicily suits people with income from outside the island: remote workers, retirees with a pension, and people with family roots who want a long stay. It is harder for anyone who needs a local job. EURES figures cited in our Living in Catania guide put Sicily's unemployment at 15.8% in 2023, about twice the Italian rate, and the same Living in Catania guide puts average declared income in Catania at about €21,000 per taxpayer (tax year 2022).
What you gain is a lower cost base than Milan, Rome or Florence, a long warm season, and two main airports, Catania and Palermo, with direct flights across Europe. What you accept is paperwork that moves at its own pace, patchy public transport outside the centres and summer heat that changes how the day is organised.
Catania or Palermo: which city suits you?
Most people who search for "living in Sicily" end up choosing between the island's two large cities. They feel very different, even though their average asking rents are almost identical.
Catania: compact, volcanic and student-heavy
In Catania the end of many streets is Mount Etna: a baroque dome, pale stone facades and, behind them, a snow-streaked volcano that sometimes trails a plume of steam. The city is built from dark lava stone and lighter limestone, and the centre is small enough to cross on foot.
Rents: asking rents averaged €9.70/m² in September 2026 (Immobiliare.it data compiled in our Living in Catania guide). The historic centre and port sat at about €10.39/m², roughly €520 for 50 m². The seafront districts of Ognina, Guardia and Rotolo were higher at €12.20/m², while Cibali and Cittadella, near the university, were about €8.31/m², or around €420.
Who it suits: people who want a walkable centre, the sea and Etna within easy reach, and a younger feel thanks to the University of Catania. The city had 298,054 residents at the end of 2024 (ISTAT). For neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood detail, see Living in Catania, and for a first visit, things to do in Catania.
Palermo: bigger, layered and more international
Palermo's old-town markets set up under faded palazzi, with hand-painted shop signs, crates of vegetables and shoppers moving from stall to stall with full bags. It is a city of about 629,000 people (ISTAT, end of 2024), with a wider range of services and schools than Catania.
Rents: the city average was also €9.70/m² in September 2026, up about 4.5% in a year, according to Immobiliare.it figures in our Living in Palermo guide. The centro storico was about €11.45/m² (around €575 for 50 m²), Libertà and Politeama about €10.23/m², the beach suburb of Mondello about €10.34/m², and Oreto and Perez, south of the station, about €8.93/m².
Who it suits: families who need an international school (our Living guides list an IB school in Palermo and none with an English curriculum in Catania) and people who want big-city choice and the Tyrrhenian coast.
What does it cost to live in Sicily?
At the Ortigia market in Syracuse, oregano, dried herbs and chilli flakes are sold loose from wooden crates and scooped by hand. Stalls like this, and the fish and vegetable markets of Catania and Palermo, are the everyday end of a Sicilian budget. The official benchmark is ISTAT's 2025 household spending survey, published on 8 October 2026: an average of €2,338 a month for households on the islands and €2,215 in the south, against €2,782 for Italy as a whole. That puts the islands about 16% below the national figure.
A single person: our Living guides estimate rent plus transport at about €370–460 a month on a modest budget in Catania. In Palermo, a single person living simply in the outer districts needs about €900–1,150 a month including rent, energy and transport. These are Holiplanet estimates built from the rent data above, not official figures.
A couple or family: a 75 m² two-bedroom costs about €730 in Catania at the city average, and from about €670 (Oreto) to €860 (centro storico) in Palermo.
Mistakes to avoid: judging a flat in winter without asking about summer cooling, and signing an unregistered lease, since residence and many other steps need a registered contract.
Residency, codice fiscale and healthcare
For a newcomer from outside the EU, the first weeks in Sicily are spent less on the beach than at counters: the residence permit application, for example, starts at a post office. Paperwork is where moves stall, so order matters. Almost everything starts with an Italian tax code, the codice fiscale, which you can request from abroad through a consulate or in Italy at the Agenzia delle Entrate; our codice fiscale guide covers both routes.
EU citizens
You can live in Italy for the first three months with an ID card. After that you may be asked to register as a resident with the comune. Workers show proof of employment, while pensioners and students must show comprehensive health insurance and enough resources to support themselves (Your Europe).
Non-EU citizens
You need a long-stay visa before you travel, then you must apply for the permesso di soggiorno within 8 days of arriving. The application kit is sent from a post office. Poste Italiane lists a €16 revenue stamp, a €30 postal fee and €30.46 for the electronic permit card, plus, for some permits, a further contribution that depends on the type and length of the permit. Retirees usually apply for elective residence (see our Italy elective residence visa guide), while remote workers should check the digital nomad and self-employment rules with their Italian consulate.
Healthcare
Employees and self-employed residents join the national health service (SSN) through the local health authority. Non-EU residents who are not covered that way, including many retirees, can usually register voluntarily for a calendar year. The contribution is a percentage of income with a minimum of €2,000 a year, or a flat €700 for some students. It cannot be split or backdated (ASL Asti information sheet, 2026).
In Sicily the F24 payment uses region code 16 (University of Palermo). For short stays and what EHIC or travel insurance covers, see what Italian healthcare covers for foreign visitors.
The 7% tax regime for foreign pensioners
Italy offers a 7% flat tax on foreign-source income to people with pensions from foreign bodies who move their tax residence south from a country that has an administrative cooperation agreement with Italy. The comune must have no more than 20,000 inhabitants and be in Sicily or one of seven other southern regions (small comuni in the 2016–2017 central Italy earthquake areas also qualify), and you must not have been tax resident in Italy in the previous five years.
The option lasts for the year of the move plus the next nine (Agenzia delle Entrate, ruling no. 559 of 24 November 2020). Catania and Palermo are far above the threshold, so the regime points to smaller towns, not the big cities.
Getting around without a car
In Palermo's pedestrian old town, walking is the way to get around: a long, straight street lined with balconied palazzi, flags on the facades and mountains closing the view at the far end. Inside both historic centres you can live without a car. Outside them, buses are the backbone and timetables matter.
Catania: an AMTS bus ticket costs €1.40 for 90 minutes, a day ticket €3.50 and a standard monthly pass €40, with €20–22 passes for pensioners, students and employees. The Alibus to the airport costs €4 (AMTS fares, checked 9 November 2026). The city also has a single metro line, run by FCE.
Palermo: AMAT sells a 90-minute ticket for €1.40 and a 30-day pass for €32, and runs four tram lines, according to the fare table summarised in our Living in Palermo guide (checked 30 October 2026).
Between cities: outside the centres, a car makes supermarkets, beaches and inland towns much easier to reach. If you plan to drive, check how long your licence is valid in Italy before you move.
What this means for landlords and hosts in Sicily
Behind the laundry and iron balconies of Palermo's narrow streets are the old-centre flats that many newcomers hope to rent. The people searching for "living in Sicily" are mostly remote workers, retirees and people with family roots who want to stay for months rather than a week. That creates demand for something Sicily's rental market has been slow to offer: furnished homes for one to six months, let on clear, legal terms outside the summer peak.
A different calendar. Holiday demand peaks in summer, while remote workers and new residents are not tied to the beach season. A unit that alternates between a tourist season and a registered medium-term contract can smooth income across the year, as long as each use follows its own rules.
What foreign tenants need from you. To register residence, apply for a permit or enrol in the health service, a newcomer usually needs a registered lease and an address that the comune can verify. Owners who provide a proper contract, help with the codice fiscale and explain utilities and waste collection in English will stand out. Short or tourist lets also need the national CIN code, mandatory since 1 January 2025 (Ministry of Tourism), so mixing the two uses means keeping both sets of paperwork in order.
Where the pressure is rising. In September 2026 asking rents were up about 4.5% year on year in Palermo and 1.78% in Catania (Immobiliare.it data in our Living guides). The fastest-moving areas are the historic centres and the coast, where tourist lets compete with residents. Owners in less central districts such as Oreto in Palermo or Cibali in Catania can target students and long-stay newcomers who value price and transport over a postcard view.
Local businesses such as coworking spaces, language schools and relocation helpers benefit from the same flow. People who stay for months need Italian lessons, a desk, a bank account and a GP, and they look for these in English before they arrive.
Living in Sicily: frequently asked questions
Is Sicily cheaper than the rest of Italy?
Yes, on average. ISTAT's 2025 survey puts monthly household spending on the islands at €2,338, against €2,782 nationally. Rents in Catania and Palermo, at about €9.70/m² in September 2026, are well below those in Milan, Rome or Florence.
Is Catania or Palermo better for expats?
Catania is more compact and close to Etna and the Ionian coast. Palermo is larger, has an IB international school and offers more services. Rents are similar, so the choice usually comes down to size, schools and lifestyle.
Can Americans retire in Sicily?
Usually through the elective residence visa, which needs stable passive income and a home in Italy. After arriving you apply for the permesso di soggiorno within 8 days and arrange healthcare, either through private insurance or the voluntary SSN registration, which costs at least €2,000 a year.
Does the 7% flat tax apply in Palermo or Catania?
No. The regime applies only to comuni with up to 20,000 inhabitants in Sicily and the other eligible southern regions. Both cities are much larger.
Official sources and how to read this guide
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change, so check them before you act.
Sources used, all read on 9 November 2026: ISTAT, Spese per consumi delle famiglie, 2025; Poste Italiane, permit application guide; Your Europe, registering residence after three months; ASL Asti, voluntary SSN registration; University of Palermo, health cover for foreign students; Agenzia delle Entrate, ruling no. 559/2020 on the 7% regime; Ministry of Tourism, CIN; AMTS Catania, tickets and passes.
Rents are asking prices from Immobiliare.it as compiled in our Living guides, not signed contracts. For the wider picture, browse our Living Abroad guides and the Catania City Guide.
Photos: cover by Lukas Janßen; Catania fish market by Yoav Aziz; Catania street with Etna by Joshua Kettle; Palermo street market by Serena Repice Lentini; Ortigia spice stall by Dagnija Berzina; Palermo pedestrian street by Stefano Huang; Palermo balconies by Stepan Dudycha. All on Unsplash (Unsplash License), with light colour and detail finishing by Holiplanet.
