Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of shared households of unrelated adults than 93% of Irish towns: 2.2%
By its share of residents who said they are Catholic (75%), Cobh is above three quarters of Irish towns. The town had 14,148 residents in 5,257 households at the 2022 Census. The share of households of parents with children stands at 46%. The median age locally is 38.7, higher than in 63% of Irish towns.
Growth of +8% since 2016 puts Cobh ahead of 51% of Irish towns
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.
More residents aged 15 to 24 than 71% of Irish towns: 13%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 13%, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Cobh, 38.7. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Cork 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 6% in Cobh, less than in 73% 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
35% of Cobh’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 19% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year across Ireland’s towns is 7.5%.
Cobh: 25% of households are one person living alone, above 51% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Cork’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Each household has 2.7 people on average. By way of comparison, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns.
0.8% of homes are holiday homes, more than in 79% of Irish towns
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
One in ten households live in a flat or apartment, against 12% across Ireland’s towns. Households without a car or van: 17% of the total. For comparison, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns.
Median household income: €57,990 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €57,990 gross, about the Ireland median (€60,120). Countywide in Co. Cork, the median is €60,670.
Only 17% of Cobh’s residents were born outside Ireland
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 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
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.
14% speak another language at home, most often Polish (4.1%); 1.4% speak English not well or not at all. Few places have so few residents with another country’s citizenship: 11% here, fewer than in 72% of Irish towns. By way of comparison, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
In Cobh, 39% of residents can speak Irish
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
Top of Co. Cork: Ballincollig, at 2.1%. Daily speakers of Irish outside education are rarer here than in nearly two thirds of Irish towns.
83% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, a share 69% of Irish towns don’t reach
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: 83% of Cobh · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White Irish, are Other White (11%), Other, including mixed (2%) and Black or Black Irish (1.7%). Typically, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. Compared with other places, residents with no religion are common here: 18%, more than in 54% of Irish towns.
Cobh ranks above 62% of Irish towns on married residents 15 and over: 36%
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.
At 5.9%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across Ireland’s towns. For comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Cobh sits below 61% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (31%)
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
10% of Cobh’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 7.5% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). The comparison figure for adults with a degree or higher is 36% across Ireland’s towns.
41 towns of 12,163 to 16,570 people: this is the 11th oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Castletroy is the youngest (29); Foxrock the oldest (44.7). Nearest to Cobh in age: Clontarf West (38.7), Castlebar (38.7), Cabinteely (38.9) and Kimmage (39.1).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Cobh
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cobh | 14,148 | — | 38.7 | 13% | 46% |
| Passage West-Monkstown | 6,051 | 2.9 km | 39.6 | 14% | 48% |
| Crosshaven | 3,263 | 5.9 km | 39.9 | 15% | 47% |
| Whitegate | 1,248 | 6.1 km | 36.6 | 7.5% | 60% |
| Aghada-Rostellan | 1,159 | 6.6 km | 43.5 | 15% | 48% |
| Glounthaune | 5,000 | 7.1 km | 40.1 | 17% | 50% |
| Carrigtwohill | 5,568 | 7.3 km | 34.9 | 6% | 60% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Cork’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Cork’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 Cobh’s residents
What is the population of Cobh?
Cobh had 14,148 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Cobh?
The median age is 38.7, older than 63% of Irish towns. 25% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Cobh?
39% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (5,109 people), and 0.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Cobh?
83% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 17% were born abroad and 11% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Cobh?
75% are Catholic, 18% have no religion and 6.7% another religion; 3.7% didn’t say.
Is Cobh good for families?
46% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Cobh are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Cobh?
Median gross household income in Cobh was €57,990 in 2022, against €60,670 across Co. Cork 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).