Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Residents with no religion make up 10% in Cavan, less than in 92% of Irish towns
Half of Cavan’s residents are under 36.1, younger than in 70% of Irish towns. In 2022, the Census found 11,741 residents in the town, living in 4,297 households. Census figures put one-person households at 28% in the town. The town sits close to the norm on holiday homes: 0.5%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns.
What stands out about the people of Cavan
A mix of backgrounds
41% of residents describe a background other than White Irish, more than in 92% of Irish towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (21%), Asian or Asian Irish (9.9%) and Black or Black Irish (4.6%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
More born abroad than most towns
34% of residents were born abroad, against 24% across Co. Cavan’s towns and 22% across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups were born outside the EU and UK (11%) and elsewhere in the EU (10%); 26% are citizens of another country. Where people were born ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Slower growth than 71% of Irish towns: Cavan changed by +4% since 2016
Residents at the 2016 and 2022 censuses, on 2022 boundaries, and the change beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Change, 2016 to 2022
CSO publishes yearly population estimates for counties and regions, not towns, so the trend is two censuses rather than a line; 2016 ages aren’t on 2022 boundaries, so there is no change by age.
Across Co. Cavan’s towns the median is +10%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
Only 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Cavan
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
12% of residents are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 35–39, with 9.7% of residents.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Cavan, 36.1. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Cavan 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%.
In Cavan, 8.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 66% of Irish towns
CSO’s social classes (everyone, by their own or their family’s occupation), the occupations of those at work, and where residents lived a year before the Census.
Residents by social class · all residents
Where residents lived a year earlier
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Workers by occupation · residents at work
Across Ireland’s towns, 34% of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Cavan, 31% and 18%. The wider picture: 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
More households of parents with children than 57% of Irish towns: 44%
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Cavan’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 55% of Irish towns. As a reference point, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns. There are 2.7 people in the average household.
A higher share of households without a car or van than 65% of Irish towns, at 21%
Home types, cars and the internet, by household. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Internet at home · share of households
Broadband reaches 90% of households; 8.2% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). To put it in context, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment.
€47,910 a year is the median household income here
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Cavan’s households have a gross income below €47,910 a year, 20% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). Co. Cavan’s median household income is €52,320.
34% of residents were born outside Ireland, a share 89% of Irish towns don’t reach
Place of birth and citizenship as CSO asks them: born abroad includes Irish citizens born abroad.
Born abroad, by birthplace · share of all residents; the bar runs to 40%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 40%
Citizens of another country, by citizenship; CSO counts dual Irish citizens as Irish.
Other languages · share of all residents
CSO’s small-area tables don’t give the year people arrived.
The largest groups were born outside the EU and UK (11%) and elsewhere in the EU (10%). Residents born outside Ireland make up 22% across Ireland’s towns. Just over a quarter of residents are citizens of another country, more than in 87% of Irish towns.
Daily speakers of Irish outside education: 0.7%, a lower share than 82% of Irish towns
Residents aged 3 and over who can speak Irish, and how often they speak it outside education (CSO).
Irish speakers · residents aged 3 and over
The ability to speak Irish extends to 3,280 residents (32% of those aged 3 and over). It is the highest share of Co. Cavan’s 5 towns of 2,500+. Set beside that, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Below 92% of Irish towns: 59% of residents describe themselves as White Irish
Ethnic or cultural background and religion, in CSO’s categories, as people described themselves.
Ethnic groups other than White Irish · all residents
White Irish, not charted: 59% of Cavan · Co. Cavan’s towns 80% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
After White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (21%), Asian or Asian Irish (9.9%) and Black or Black Irish (4.6%). By way of comparison, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. Lower than in 55% of Irish towns: 70% of residents said they are Catholic.
Half of adults have never married
Marital status of residents 15 and over, and unpaid carers.
Partnership status · residents 15 and over
The small-area tables count carers, not their hours of care.
On unpaid carers, 4.6% here is much the same as across Ireland’s towns. Married residents 15 and over: 34% of the total.
In Cavan, 29% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 67% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, nearly one in ten adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 13% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, adults with a degree or higher come to 36%.
Among 41 towns of 10,044 to 13,743 people, the 13th youngest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Summerhill is the youngest (30.5); Foxrock the oldest (44.7). Nearest to Cavan in age: Ronanstown (35.9), Kildare (36), Firhouse (36.3) and Gorey (36.4).
Among its 3 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Cavan
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cavan | 11,741 | — | 36.1 | 12% | 44% |
| Ballinagh | 1,012 | 7.9 km | 34.2 | 9.7% | 50% |
| Belturbet | 1,610 | 12.9 km | 39.4 | 18% | 34% |
| Ballyjamesduff | 2,917 | 17.6 km | 35.5 | 8.7% | 45% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Cavan’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Cavan’s towns of 2,500 or more and over the Irish towns of 2,500 or more (city totals left out). Percentiles are within Ireland only.
- The earlier population is an estimate. Towns had no official 2016 count on today’s boundaries, so the 2016 figure is CSO’s electoral-division count shared out by where people lived in 2022: read a small town in a large rural division loosely.
- What these tables don’t give. The small-area tables give no year of arrival and no hours of care, and a town’s electoral divisions run past its edge, so the page doesn’t split a town into named areas (a city lists its neighbourhoods).
- The census’s own words. Born abroad, citizenship, ethnic or cultural background and religion are CSO’s questions and categories; the page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Cavan’s residents
What is the population of Cavan?
Cavan had 11,741 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Cavan?
The median age is 36.1, younger than 70% of Irish towns. 28% are under 18 and 12% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Cavan?
32% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (3,280 people), and 0.7% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Cavan?
59% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 34% were born abroad and 26% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Cavan?
70% are Catholic, 10% have no religion and 19% another religion; 7.5% didn’t say.
Is Cavan good for families?
44% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 28% of residents are under 18. Schools near Cavan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Cavan?
Median gross household income in Cavan was €47,910 in 2022, against €52,320 across Co. Cavan and €60,120 for Ireland.
Sources: CSO, Census of Population 2022, Small Area Population Statistics · CSO PxStat FP009 (2016 by electoral division) · CSO GPIIA, household income 2022. 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).