Photo: Chris · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Kilrush earn less than those in 98% of Irish towns
Kilrush grades D for jobs and income, #304 of 321 Irish towns. At the 2022 census, 20% of the labour force in Kilrush had no job, next to 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. The trip to work, school or college averages 20.6 minutes from Kilrush, with 8.7% taking an hour or more.
Kilrush at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
56% of people aged 15 to 64 in Kilrush had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
20% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 4.9% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Kilrush had €34,244 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 20.6 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 8.7% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Kilrush: D
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the unemployment rate.
Graded against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more; a shorter trip and less unemployment count in its favor.
How the grade works
Four measures, weighed equally against every Irish town of 1,000 people or more: median gross household income (CSO, 2022), people at work as a share of residents aged 15 to 64, the unemployment rate and the average trip to work, school or college (all three Census 2022). Each becomes a percentile; their average sets the letter.
In Kilrush, 56% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
None of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Clare has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 4.9% of people aged 15 and over. Put another way, 49% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 40% 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.
The middle household in Kilrush: €34,244 a year
That puts Kilrush 37% below the median for County Clare as a whole, €54,654. Every other town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. Net of tax, it is €31,948. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 76% above Kilrush’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Work and school are closer to hand from Kilrush than for the middle of Irish towns
The trip from the middle of County Clare averages 23.1 minutes. In County Clare, 1 of 5 towns counted average a shorter trip. The middle of County Clare has 44% of trips under 15 minutes; here it is 65%.
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.
What the people of Kilrush do for work
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 24% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 1.3%.
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.
25% of Kilrush’s trips to work are on foot, by bike or public transport
Mainly from home: 6.4% of residents in work, next to 11% in the middle of Irish towns. Buses carry 1.2% of commuters, where the middle of Irish towns has 6%. 21% walk, against 10% in the middle of County Clare. The car or van takes 69% of commuters; the middle of County Clare has 77%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Signing on in County Clare, against the 2019 level
3,361 people were signing on in County Clare in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 fell by 4%. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 31 months. Kilrush office: signing on peaked in June 2020 at 939, 19% 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.
People signing on each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
In Kilrush, 24% of adults are retired
Compared with Irish towns, 6.2% are full-time students (against 11%), 40% are in work (against 57%) and 12% are long-term sick or disabled (against 4.7%).
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
Kilrush earns B for walkability
Better than 63% of Irish towns on two measures together, #1 of 5 in County Clare.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a pharmacy: 64%.
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.
Where Kilrush sits among Irish towns of 2,500 to 3,600
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annacotty County Limerick | 3,398 | 71% | 6% | €90K | A+ |
| 2 | Grange Upper County Waterford | 2,510 | 71% | 7.4% | €65K | A |
| 3 | Blarney County Cork | 2,779 | 73% | 5.4% | €67K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Sixmilebridge County Clare | 2,832 | 69% | 8.4% | €64K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 47 | Ballyhaunis County Mayo | 2,773 | 57% | 16% | €41K | D |
| 48 | Boyle County Roscommon | 2,915 | 60% | 15% | €39K | D |
| 49 | Kilrush County Clare | 2,649 | 56% | 20% | €34K | D |
| 50 | Ballynanty County Limerick | 3,030 | 45% | 24% | €37K | D |
| 51 | Baltinglass County Wicklow | 2,611 | 63% | 12% | €52K | D− |
| 52 | Mayfield County Cork | 2,846 | 49% | 20% | €38K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Kilrush, and others in County Clare.
The work picture around Kilrush
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kilrush | 56% | 20% | €34K | 20.6 min | D | B |
| Kilkee 11.5 km | 59% | 18% | €29K | 24.3 min | D− | C+ |
| Ballybunion 18.8 km | 63% | 14% | €35K | 25.9 min | D− | C− |
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 Kilrush, 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 Kilrush
What is the unemployment rate in Kilrush?
20% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 4.9% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Kilrush a good place to find work?
Kilrush earns a D for jobs and income, better than 8% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #304 of 321 Irish towns.
How do people in Kilrush get to work?
69% of commuters go by car or van, 21% walk, 2.1% cycle and 1.6% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 6.4% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Kilrush?
Trips to work, school or college take 20.6 minutes on average; 8.7% take an hour or more and 65% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Kilrush?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Kilrush’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Kilrush 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 Kilrush travel and how long their trips take.
Sources: CSO Census 2022 SAPS · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · CSO Live Register (LRM07) · OpenStreetMap (ODbL) · grades: TownRatings. 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).