Older remains, belonging to an early Bronze Age settlement buried by a Vesuvius eruption in the 19th century BC, were found in 2005.

[3] According to a tradition now recognized as false,[4] the town was founded in the Middle Ages, in 1140, by Roger II of Sicily, who assigned the land to its veterans.

Napoli Afragola railway station was designed by the architect Zaha Hadid and opened in 2017.

Afragola's bus network is managed by CTP (the Consorzio Trasporto Pubblico or Public Transport Consortium).

In 1999 and 2005, the communal council was disbanded by rule of the President of Italian Republic due to mafia allegiance of some of its members.