Photo: Hywel Williams · CC BY-SA 2.0Douglas has higher household incomes than 88% of Irish towns
On census day in 2022, 16% of its workers worked mainly from home. Douglas grades A+ for jobs and income, #6 of 54 in County Cork. The 2022 census put unemployment in Douglas at 5.1%, where the middle of Irish towns has 9.2%.
The work figures that set Douglas apart
Less unemployment than most towns
5.1% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 1.5% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household in Douglas had €80,260 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 ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
The Jobs & income grade for Douglas: A+
Better than 96% of Irish towns on four measures together, #6 of 54 in County Cork.
Its strongest measure is the unemployment rate; its weakest, trip times.
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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Douglas: 73%
Of the 53 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Cork, 46 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
1.5% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Among the unemployed, 45% had been out of work that long. Of all residents aged 15 and over, retirees and students among them, 61% 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.
How much households earn in Douglas: €80,260
Douglas’s median is 32% above County Cork’s (€60,671). Of the county’s 53 other towns of 2,500 or more, 3 have a higher median. After tax, the median is €64,290. The State median is €60,123, 25% below Douglas’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
The industries Douglas’ residents work in
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 25% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 0.4%.
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.
Car-free commutes: 9.8% of workers in Douglas
16% work mainly from home, against 11% in the middle of Irish towns. The bus and rail carry about as many commuters as in the middle of Irish towns. On foot: 2.8% of commuters, next to 10% in the middle of Irish towns. For 74% of commuters, the trip to work is by car or van.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
26.3 minutes from Douglas to work or school, about the middle of Irish towns
Under 15 minutes: 22% of trips, next to 33% in the middle of County Cork. Long trips are about as common as in the middle of County Cork, at 4.2%. 70% of trips take 15 to 44 minutes, where the middle of County Cork has 59%. For the middle of County Cork, the average trip is 24.8 minutes. Of the 54 towns of County Cork counted, 40 have a shorter average 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.
How many sign on in Cork city: the count since 2019
6,264 people were signing on in Cork city in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 rose by 8%. Its lowest month since 2019 was February 2022, at 5,170. Cork city: signing on peaked in July 2020 at 7,209, 14% 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).
Work, study, retirement: 61% of adults in Douglas are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 3.1% 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.
Douglas grades C− for walkability
Better than 16% of Irish towns on two measures together, #45 of 54 in County Cork.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 11%.
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.
Douglas places 3rd of 56 on jobs and income among Irish towns of 15,400 to 29,700
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballincollig County Cork | 21,940 | 73% | 5.1% | €76K | A+ |
| 2 | Rathmines East County Dublin | 16,923 | 77% | 5.4% | €94K | A+ |
| 3 | Douglas County Cork | 22,029 | 73% | 5.1% | €80K | A+ |
| 4 | Sandymount County Dublin | 22,340 | 75% | 6.3% | €90K | A+ |
| 5 | Templeogue County Dublin | 18,076 | 75% | 4.8% | €87K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Carrigaline County Cork | 18,239 | 70% | 5.5% | €78K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 56 | Ballymun County Dublin | 22,321 | 63% | 16% | €53K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Douglas, and others in County Cork.
Jobs near Douglas: the places around it
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas | 73% | 5.1% | €80K | 26.3 min | A+ | C− |
| Tramore 2.5 km | 71% | 6.8% | €62K | 23.8 min | A | A− |
| Frankfield and Grange 2.6 km | 71% | 5.7% | €82K | 25.1 min | A | C− |
| Mahon 2.7 km | 67% | 8.5% | €62K | 23.8 min | B+ | B |
| Ballinlough 2.7 km | 74% | 4.8% | €72K | 22.1 min | A+ | A− |
| Knockrea 3.6 km | 75% | 6.3% | €71K | 24.7 min | A+ | A |
| Turner's Cross 3.9 km | 69% | 8% | €48K | 22.2 min | B+ | A |
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 Douglas, 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 Douglas
What is the unemployment rate in Douglas?
5.1% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 1.5% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Douglas a good place to find work?
Douglas earns an A+ for jobs and income, better than 96% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #6 of 54 in County Cork.
How do people in Douglas get to work?
74% of commuters go by car or van, 2.8% walk, 1.7% cycle and 5.3% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 16% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Douglas?
Trips to work, school or college take 26.3 minutes on average; 4.2% take an hour or more and 22% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Douglas?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Douglas’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Douglas 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 Douglas 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).