Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Making a living in Whitegate
Travel time from Whitegate to work, school or college: 34.8 minutes on average, an hour or longer for 20%. The 2022 census put unemployment in Whitegate at 9.6%, where the middle of Irish towns has 9.2%. No Jobs & income Grade is given to Whitegate: it has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts.
Work in Whitegate, in a few figures
More people in work than most towns
77% of people aged 15 to 64 in Whitegate had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Whitegate had €40,990 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 34.8 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 20% 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 figures behind jobs and income in Whitegate
Whitegate has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts. The figures on this page are still its own.
77% of working-age people in Whitegate have jobs
All 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Clare have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
2.7% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Among the unemployed, 50% had been out of work that long. Of all residents aged 15 and over, retirees and students among them, 50% 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.
Whitegate at the median: €40,990 a household
Before tax, 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760.
Whitegate’s median is 25% below County Clare’s (€54,654). 4 of the county’s 5 towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. After tax, the median is €37,870. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 47% above Whitegate’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
The trip to work or school is longer from Whitegate than in the middle of Irish towns
Of the 5 towns of County Clare counted, 5 have a shorter average trip. 32% of trips take under 15 minutes, against 44% in the middle of County Clare. The commonest trip is 15 to 44 minutes, for 37% of trips; the middle of County Clare has 44%. The trip from the middle of County Clare averages 23.1 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.
Walking, cycling, the bus or the train: 2.7% of Whitegate’s commuters
More people work mainly from home here than in the middle of County Clare: 14% against 8.9%. The car or van takes 82% of commuters; the middle of County Clare has 77%. Public transport barely figures, where the middle of Irish towns has 6% by bus and 0.9% by rail.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
People signing on in County Clare, against 2019
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. County Clare saw its highest month in July 2020: 5,809 people signing on, 26% 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).
Within 800 m of home in Whitegate
Not graded: the Walkability grade starts at 1,000 residents.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a pharmacy: 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.
Around Whitegate: jobs, pay and the commute
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitegate | 77% | 9.6% | €41K | 34.8 min | — | — |
| Nenagh 14.8 km | 68% | 9.4% | €48K | 22.1 min | B | B− |
| Ballina 15.8 km | 71% | 5.4% | €73K | 28.8 min | A | C− |
| Killaloe 16.6 km | 67% | 11% | €47K | 26.7 min | C | C+ |
| Borrisokane 17.3 km | 61% | 14% | €42K | 25.6 min | D | B+ |
| Portumna 18.9 km | 63% | 13% | €41K | 28.2 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 Whitegate, 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 Whitegate
What is the unemployment rate in Whitegate?
9.6% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 2.7% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
How do people in Whitegate get to work?
82% of commuters go by car or van, 2.7% walk, 0% cycle and 0% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 14% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Whitegate?
Trips to work, school or college take 34.8 minutes on average; 20% take an hour or more and 32% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Whitegate?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Whitegate’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Whitegate 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 Whitegate 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).