Photo: Seighean · Public domainFewer of Fermoy’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 69% of Irish towns
Trips to work, school or college from Fermoy take 24.8 minutes on average, and 7.8% take an hour or more. Unemployment in Fermoy stood at 10% at the 2022 census (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). For jobs and income, Fermoy earns a grade of C+, #40 of 54 in County Cork.
What stands out about work in Fermoy
Work near the middle
65% of people aged 15 to 64 in Fermoy had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
10% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 3.1% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Jobs and income in Fermoy earn C+
Taken together, its four measures make it better than 38% of Irish towns, #40 of 54 in County Cork.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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.
What the people of Fermoy do for work
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 24% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 1.6%.
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.
In Fermoy, 65% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 53 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Cork, 14 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 3.1% of people aged 15 and over. Put another way, 52% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 54% 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.
Half the households here have more than €49,607 a year
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 65% of Irish towns.
That puts Fermoy 18% below the median for County Cork as a whole, €60,671. Of the county’s 53 other towns of 2,500 or more, 33 have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €44,502. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 21% above Fermoy’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
For 17% of Fermoy’s commuters, the trip is on foot, by bike, bus or train
6.5% work mainly from home, against 11% in the middle of Irish towns. The middle of Irish towns has 6% going by bus; here it is 2.1%. The car or van carries most commuters: 76%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Getting to work or school is quicker from Fermoy than in the middle of Irish towns
Of the 54 towns of County Cork counted, 27 have a shorter average trip. Short trips of under 15 minutes make up 45%, where the middle of County Cork has 33%.
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 count signing on in County Cork is 6% below its 2019 level
19,928 people were signing on in County Cork in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 rose by 5%. Its lowest month since 2019 was February 2022, at 18,274. Fermoy office saw its highest month in July 2020: 1,179 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).
Jobs, studies and retirement in Fermoy: 54% in work
Compared with Irish towns, 6.3% 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.
Getting around Fermoy on foot earns C
Better than 34% of Irish towns on two measures together, #34 of 54 in County Cork.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 40%.
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.
Fermoy places 68th of 101 on jobs and income among Irish towns of 4,700 to 9,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 66 | Gillabbey County Cork | 5,857 | 43% | 8.6% | €44K | C+ |
| 67 | St Stephen's Green County Dublin | 5,319 | 65% | 11% | €56K | C+ |
| 68 | Fermoy County Cork | 6,720 | 65% | 10% | €50K | C+ |
| 69 | Garryowen County Limerick | 5,428 | 61% | 11% | €51K | C+ |
| 70 | Caherdavin County Limerick | 7,364 | 61% | 10% | €52K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 101 | Cherry Orchard County Dublin | 8,280 | 56% | 18% | €53K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Fermoy, and others in County Cork.
Jobs and income in the places around Fermoy
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fermoy | 65% | 10% | €50K | 24.8 min | C+ | C |
| Kilworth 5.1 km | 73% | 5.9% | €66K | 28.3 min | A | C− |
| Rathcormac 6.9 km | 70% | 6.4% | €61K | 28.5 min | B+ | B− |
| Mitchelstown 14.3 km | 67% | 11% | €44K | 23.8 min | C+ | B |
| Watergrasshill 14.8 km | 77% | 3.9% | €82K | 28.9 min | A+ | 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 Fermoy, 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 Fermoy
What is the unemployment rate in Fermoy?
10% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3.1% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Fermoy a good place to find work?
Fermoy earns a C+ for jobs and income, better than 38% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #40 of 54 in County Cork.
How do people in Fermoy get to work?
76% of commuters go by car or van, 14% walk, 0.9% cycle and 2.2% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 6.5% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Fermoy?
Trips to work, school or college take 24.8 minutes on average; 7.8% take an hour or more and 45% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Fermoy?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Fermoy’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Fermoy 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 Fermoy 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).