Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0Bantry has lower household incomes than 95% of Irish towns
From Bantry, trips to work, school or college average 20.8 minutes; for 8.9%, it takes an hour or more. On jobs and income together, Bantry grades B−, #37 of 54 in County Cork. 10% of the labour force in Bantry was out of work at the 2022 census, next to 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns.
The work figures that set Bantry apart
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Bantry had €37,667 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 20.8 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 8.9% 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.
Bantry earns B− for jobs and income
Better than 46% of Irish towns on four measures taken together, #37 of 54 in County Cork.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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.
Median household income in Bantry is €37,667
Bantry’s median is 38% below County Cork’s (€60,671). 50 of the county’s 53 other towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. After tax, the median is €34,553. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 60% above Bantry’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 shorter from Bantry than in the middle of Irish towns
Across County Cork, the middle town’s trips average 24.8 minutes. In County Cork, 2 of 54 towns counted average a shorter trip. 60% of trips take under 15 minutes, against 33% in the middle of County Cork.
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 of Bantry’s residents, industry by industry
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 21% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 1.4%.
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.
Working-age people in Bantry: 67% have a job
Of the 53 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Cork, 20 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
3.2% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Among the unemployed, 57% had been out of work that long. Of all residents aged 15 and over, retirees and students among them, 49% 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.
Leaving the car at home: 22% of commuters in Bantry
The car or van takes 71% of commuters, close to the middle of County Cork. Working mainly from home: 6.3% here, 11% in the middle of Irish towns. The middle of Irish towns has 6% going by bus; here it is 2.1%. On foot: 20% of commuters, well above the 12% in the middle of County Cork.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Signing on in County Cork since 2019
19,928 people were signing on in County Cork in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count rose by 5%. Its lowest month since 2019 was February 2022, at 18,274. Bantry office saw its highest month in December 2022: 590 people signing on, 18% 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).
23% of adults in Bantry are retired
Compared with Irish towns, 7% are full-time students (against 11%), 49% are in work (against 57%) and 7.3% 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.
Walking in Bantry earns B+
Better than 73% of Irish towns on two measures together, #21 of 54 in County Cork.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 67%.
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.
33rd of 68: where Bantry ranks among Irish towns of 2,500 to 4,000
| # | 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 | Riverstown County Cork | 3,664 | 70% | 5.1% | €83K | A |
| 4 | Blarney County Cork | 2,779 | 73% | 5.4% | €67K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Crosshaven County Cork | 3,263 | 72% | 4.9% | €70K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 31 | Kenmare County Kerry | 2,566 | 68% | 10% | €40K | B− |
| 32 | Shandon County Cork | 3,539 | 71% | 11% | €44K | B− |
| 33 | Bantry County Cork | 2,929 | 67% | 10% | €38K | B− |
| 34 | Ballinrobe County Mayo | 3,148 | 67% | 11% | €50K | C+ |
| 35 | Moate County Westmeath | 3,013 | 67% | 11% | €53K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 68 | Mayfield County Cork | 2,846 | 49% | 20% | €38K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Bantry, and others in County Cork.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Bantry, 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 Bantry
What is the unemployment rate in Bantry?
10% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3.2% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Bantry a good place to find work?
Bantry earns a B− for jobs and income, better than 46% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #37 of 54 in County Cork.
How do people in Bantry get to work?
71% of commuters go by car or van, 20% walk, 0.7% cycle and 2.1% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 6.3% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Bantry?
Trips to work, school or college take 20.8 minutes on average; 8.9% take an hour or more and 60% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Bantry?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Bantry’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Bantry 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 Bantry 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).