#1Ballyjamesduff
2,917 peopleScore 57.4·#91 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: cost of living A, hazard risk A−·lowest: health C
Ballyjamesduff, #1 on this list · Photo: HENRY CLARK (CC BY-SA 2.0)Cavan · 2026
Best places to live in County Cavan
Ballyjamesduff ranks first of 5 ranked towns of 2,500 or more in County Cavan, #91 of 320 towns nationally. Second place on the list goes to Bailieborough, with B+. Not one town on the list earns an A grade. The list’s highest score is 57.4, its lowest 41.5.
The overall score, sorted within the county; the letter compares each town with every town in Ireland of 2,500+, and its national rank sits beside it. How grades work
#1B+
#2Bailieborough
2,974 peopleScore 56.6·#95 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: hazard risk A, cost of living A·lowest: jobs & income C−
#3Kingscourt
2,955 peopleScore 55.8·#101 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: health B+, cost of living B+·lowest: walkability C−
All 5 towns, ranked
By overall score against Irish towns; ranks are within the county, and each national rank links to the national list.
#TownScoreGrade · national rankWhat drives it
1Ballyjamesduff2,917 people57.4top 28.2%B+#91 of 320 nationallyStrongest: cost of living A, hazard risk A−·lowest: health C
2Bailieborough2,974 people56.6top 29.5%B+#95 of 320 nationallyStrongest: hazard risk A, cost of living A·lowest: jobs & income C−
3Kingscourt2,955 people55.8top 31.3%B+#101 of 320 nationallyStrongest: health B+, cost of living B+·lowest: walkability C−
4Virginia3,211 people50.9top 43.6%B#140 of 320 nationallyStrongest: health B+, safety B−·lowest: walkability C
5Cavan11,741 people41.5bottom 30.4%C#223 of 320 nationallyStrongest: hazard risk A−, cost of living A−·lowest: safety C−
Quick answers
Questions people ask
How are these towns ranked?
By the overall grade, which blends six graded subjects (safety, cost of living, health, jobs & income, walkability and hazard risk) from public data, each comparing a town with every town in Ireland of 1,000 or more. The rank is among the towns of 2,500 or more in County Cavan, where five or more have an overall grade.
Why isn’t my town on this list?
The list covers places of 2,500 or more with an overall grade. Smaller places, and towns missing figures the overall grade needs, show their grades on their own pages; every town is listed on the County Cavan page.
County by county
Best places to live, county by county
Photos: Ballyjamesduff, HENRY CLARK (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Bailieborough, Eric Jones (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Kingscourt, Eric Jones (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Irish towns against each other only, run #58 of 4 November 2026. 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).