Photo: Dylan Moore · CC BY-SA 2.0Rathtoe at work: jobs, income and the commute
Out of work at the 2022 census: 6.4% of the labour force in Rathtoe (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). Getting to work, school or college from Rathtoe takes 33.1 minutes on average, with 18% taking an hour or more. Jobs and income go ungraded in Rathtoe: it has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts.
Rathtoe and work: the main findings
Less unemployment than most towns
6.4% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 0.9% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household in Rathtoe had €81,030 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. CSO publishes no income figure for this place, so this one is our estimate from its electoral divisions. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 33.1 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 18% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Rathtoe isn’t graded for jobs and income
Rathtoe has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts. The figures on this page are still its own.
64% of working-age people in Rathtoe have jobs
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Carlow, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 0.9% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 23% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 59% were at work.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS): people at work of any age, over residents aged 15 to 64. The census doesn’t cross work with age, so the few people working past 65 count in the top only.
Household income in Rathtoe: €81,030 a year
Before tax, 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760.
That puts Rathtoe 53% above the median for County Carlow as a whole, €53,119. No town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. Net of tax, it is €66,450. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 26% below Rathtoe’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
More time on the road to work or school from Rathtoe than in the middle of Irish towns
Most often, a trip takes 15 to 44 minutes: 43%, against 41% in the middle of County Carlow. In the middle of County Carlow, the trip averages 25.1 minutes. Against 43% in the middle of County Carlow, 31% of trips take under 15 minutes.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), time taken to travel to work, school or college; the four bands are the shares of trips whose length was stated.
The work done by people from Rathtoe
Commerce and trade is the second-largest at 27%, against 26% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 0%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), industry of people at work who live here. Ireland doesn’t publish how many jobs are based in each town, so this shows what residents do, not the jobs here.
Without a car, 4.7% of Rathtoe’s commuters get to work
Mainly from home: 11% of commuters, well above the 6.7% in the middle of County Carlow. By car or van: 85% of commuters, next to 73% in the middle of County Carlow. Buses carry 2.3% of commuters, where the middle of Irish towns has 6%. Against 10% and 2.4% in the middle of Irish towns, 1.6% walk and 0.8% cycle.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
How the count signing on in County Carlow has moved
2,603 people were signing on in County Carlow in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 fell by 2%. For 49 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. Its lowest month since 2019 was November 2024, at 2,558. County Carlow saw its highest month in July 2020: 3,774 people signing on, 12% above the 2019 average.
Live Register (CSO LRM07), people signing on at social welfare offices each month. It isn’t an unemployment rate: part-time and seasonal workers sign on too, and offices serve areas that aren’t published. This place has no office of its own name, so the chart is its county’s or city’s.
People signing on each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Jobs, studies and retirement in Rathtoe: 59% in work
Compared with Irish towns, 20% are full-time students (against 11%) and 4.9% are retired (against 15%).
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
Walking to the shops, school and post office in Rathtoe
Not graded: the Walkability grade starts at 1,000 residents.
Of the everyday places, a food shop is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (0%).
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), places within 800 m in a straight line of each Census small area; active commuting from Census 2022. OpenStreetMap misses many GP surgeries and bakeries in Ireland, so those two are shown, not graded.
How the places next to Rathtoe compare on work
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathtoe | 64% | 6.4% | €81K | 33.1 min | — | — |
| Tullow 4.5 km | 64% | 12% | €47K | 25.1 min | C | C |
| Carlow 9.9 km | 62% | 12% | €50K | 26.6 min | C− | C+ |
| Rathvilly 12.4 km | 66% | 9.3% | €53K | 34 min | C | D− |
| Castledermot 13.9 km | 67% | 9.8% | €53K | 29.9 min | C+ | B− |
| Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) 14.8 km | 62% | 11% | €44K | 21.5 min | C | B+ |
| Baltinglass 17.8 km | 63% | 12% | €52K | 34.5 min | D− | D |
The people of each place: the share in work, unemployment, household income and trip times, with both grades.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Rathtoe, where it comes from, and what Ireland doesn’t publish.
- In work. People at work over residents aged 15 to 64 (Census 2022). Graded in place of the share of everyone 15 and over, so a town of retirees isn’t marked down for them.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people (first-job seekers included) over the labour force, from Census 2022.
- Household income. CSO’s median gross household income for 2022. Where CSO publishes no figure for the town, ours is the household-weighted mean of its electoral divisions’ medians, and the page says so.
- Trip times. Census 2022 groups trips to work, school and college by length; the average uses each group’s middle (7.5 to 105 minutes).
- Signing on. The Live Register counts people signing on at a social welfare office, by office and county. It includes part-time and seasonal workers, so it follows a trend; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- Walkability. Four everyday places within 800 m (pharmacy, food shop, school, post office) and the share who walk, cycle or take the bus or train to work. GP surgeries and bakeries are shown, not graded: OpenStreetMap misses many.
- Which towns we compare. Places of 2,500 people or more that aren’t a whole city: towns and city neighbourhoods. Grades start at 1,000 people; ranks at 2,500.
- What isn’t here. Ireland publishes no count of the jobs based in each town and no open table of where commuters go (CSO releases its place-of-work file, POWSCAR, on application only), so this page has no daily tide, commute map or jobs-based-here block. Claimant rates aren’t published for towns either: the Live Register is by office and county.
Questions about work in Rathtoe
What is the unemployment rate in Rathtoe?
6.4% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 0.9% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
How do people in Rathtoe get to work?
85% of commuters go by car or van, 1.6% walk, 0.8% cycle and 2.3% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 11% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Rathtoe?
Trips to work, school or college take 33.1 minutes on average; 18% take an hour or more and 31% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Rathtoe?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Rathtoe’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Rathtoe work?
Ireland has no open table of where commuters go: CSO releases its place-of-work file (POWSCAR) on application only. The census does give how people from Rathtoe travel and how long their trips take.
Sources: CSO Census 2022 SAPS · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · CSO Live Register (LRM07) · OpenStreetMap (ODbL). Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).