Photo: Jeff Horne · CC BY-SA 2.0More of Clonakilty’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 75% of Irish towns
7.4% of the labour force in Clonakilty was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. For jobs and income, Clonakilty earns a grade of A−, #19 of 54 in County Cork. The average trip to work, school or college from Clonakilty takes 21.6 minutes, with 8% taking an hour or more.
Clonakilty and work: the main findings
Work near the middle
71% of people aged 15 to 64 in Clonakilty had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 21.6 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 8% 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.
Jobs and income in Clonakilty earn A−
Taken together, its four measures make it better than 81% of Irish towns, #19 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.
Getting to work or school is quicker from Clonakilty than in the middle of Irish towns
Among County Cork’s 54 towns counted, 3 have shorter trips on average. Against 33% in the middle of County Cork, 56% of trips take under 15 minutes. The middle of County Cork averages 24.8 minutes a trip.
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 Clonakilty do for work
Professional services, health and education is the second-largest at 22%, against 25% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 1.2%.
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 Clonakilty: 71% have a job
Of the 53 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Cork, 38 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
2.2% 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, 55% 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.
Median household income in Clonakilty is €49,434
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 66% of Irish towns.
Clonakilty’s median is 19% below County Cork’s (€60,671). Of the county’s 53 other towns of 2,500 or more, 34 have a higher median. After tax, the median is €43,600. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 22% above Clonakilty’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 25% of Clonakilty’s commuters
More people walk to work here than in the middle of County Cork: 21% against 12%. The car or van takes 63% of commuters; the middle of County Cork has 71%. Mainly from home: 12% of residents in work, next to 11% in the middle of Irish towns. The middle of Irish towns has 6% going by bus; here it is 1.3%.
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. Clonakilty office saw its highest month in July 2020: 748 people signing on, 13% 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 Clonakilty, 55% of adults are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 18% are retired (against 15%) and 6.4% 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.
On getting around on foot, Clonakilty grades B+
Better than 70% of Irish towns on two measures together, #23 of 54 in County Cork.
Of the everyday places, a post office is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (46%).
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.
Clonakilty is 25th of 102 Irish towns of 3,600 to 6,900 people for jobs and income
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballinlough County Cork | 5,435 | 74% | 4.8% | €72K | A+ |
| 2 | Carrigtwohill County Cork | 5,568 | 73% | 5.5% | €71K | A+ |
| 3 | Oranmore County Galway | 5,819 | 79% | 5.9% | €80K | A+ |
| 4 | Glounthaune County Cork | 5,000 | 73% | 4.3% | €76K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Dunshaughlin County Meath | 6,644 | 75% | 6.1% | €88K | A− |
| 24 | Newcastle County Dublin | 4,526 | 75% | 6.8% | €77K | A− |
| 25 | Clonakilty County Cork | 5,112 | 71% | 7.4% | €49K | A− |
| 26 | Portobello County Dublin | 5,732 | 77% | 8.7% | €67K | A− |
| 27 | Enfield County Meath | 3,663 | 71% | 5.7% | €79K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 102 | Courtown County Wexford | 4,365 | 60% | 15% | €44K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Clonakilty, and others in County Cork.
Jobs near Clonakilty: the places around it
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clonakilty | 71% | 7.4% | €49K | 21.6 min | A− | B+ |
| Bandon 17.2 km | 67% | 9.6% | €52K | 24.4 min | B− | B− |
| Dunmanway 19 km | 67% | 8.7% | €47K | 24.7 min | B− | B− |
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 Clonakilty, 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 Clonakilty
What is the unemployment rate in Clonakilty?
7.4% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 2.2% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Clonakilty a good place to find work?
Clonakilty earns an A− for jobs and income, better than 81% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #19 of 54 in County Cork.
How do people in Clonakilty get to work?
63% of commuters go by car or van, 21% walk, 2.4% cycle and 1.4% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 12% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Clonakilty?
Trips to work, school or college take 21.6 minutes on average; 8% take an hour or more and 56% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Clonakilty?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Clonakilty’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Clonakilty 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 Clonakilty 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).