Photo: Clint Mann · CC BY-SA 2.0More of Macroom’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 64% of Irish towns
Macroom grades B for jobs and income, #28 of 54 in County Cork. Unemployment in Macroom stood at 8% at the 2022 census, where the middle of Irish towns has 9.2%.
Where Macroom stands out on work
Work near the middle
69% of people aged 15 to 64 in Macroom had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
8% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 2.7% 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 & income in Macroom: graded B
Its four measures together rank it better than 57% of Irish towns, #28 of 54 in County Cork.
Its strongest measure is the unemployment rate; 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.
The industries Macroom’s residents work in
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 23% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 1.3%.
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 Macroom, 69% of people of working age are in work
Of the 53 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Cork, 29 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 2.7% of people aged 15 and over. Put another way, 55% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 57% 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.
The median household in Macroom has €50,693 a year
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 61% of Irish towns.
That puts Macroom 16% below the median for County Cork as a whole, €60,671. 31 of the county’s 53 other towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €44,178. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 19% above Macroom’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
One way or another, 14% of Macroom’s commuters skip the car
Driving dominates: 76% go to work by car or van. Working mainly from home: 9.1% here, 11% in the middle of Irish towns. The middle of Irish towns has 6% going by bus; here it is 1.1%. Walking takes 12% of commuters and cycling 0.8%, where the middle of Irish towns has 10% and 2.4%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
The average trip from Macroom, 26.9 minutes, is close to the 27.6 of the middle of Irish towns
The commonest trip is 15 to 44 minutes, for 44% of trips; the middle of County Cork has 59%. The trip from the middle of County Cork averages 24.8 minutes. Of the 54 towns of County Cork counted, 44 have a shorter average trip. Short trips of under 15 minutes make up 38%, where the middle of County Cork has 33%. Long trips of an hour or more are 7.1% of the total, against 4.8% 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.
Signing on in County Cork, against the 2019 level
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. Macroom office: signing on peaked in January 2019 at 698, 11% 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 work, studying or retired: 57% of Macroom’s adults 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.
On getting around on foot, Macroom grades C+
Better than 37% of Irish towns on two measures together, #32 of 54 in County Cork.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 53%.
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.
Macroom next to Irish towns of 2,900 to 5,500: 37th of 92 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballinlough County Cork | 5,435 | 74% | 4.8% | €72K | A+ |
| 2 | Annacotty County Limerick | 3,398 | 71% | 6% | €90K | A+ |
| 3 | Glounthaune County Cork | 5,000 | 73% | 4.3% | €76K | A+ |
| 4 | Glanmire County Cork | 4,454 | 71% | 5.6% | €87K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 35 | Woodquay and Nuns Island County Galway | 4,948 | 66% | 9.3% | €50K | B |
| 36 | Saggart County Dublin | 4,573 | 73% | 9.4% | €69K | B |
| 37 | Macroom County Cork | 4,096 | 69% | 8% | €51K | B |
| 38 | Castlegar County Galway | 4,315 | 68% | 9.8% | €53K | B− |
| 39 | Cahir County Tipperary | 3,679 | 68% | 9.7% | €47K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 92 | Courtown County Wexford | 4,365 | 60% | 15% | €44K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Macroom, and others in County Cork.
Next to Macroom: how nearby places compare
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macroom | 69% | 8% | €51K | 26.9 min | B | C+ |
| Millstreet 18 km | 72% | 6.1% | €49K | 26.1 min | B+ | 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 Macroom, 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 Macroom
What is the unemployment rate in Macroom?
8% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 2.7% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Macroom a good place to find work?
Macroom earns a B for jobs and income, better than 57% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #28 of 54 in County Cork.
How do people in Macroom get to work?
76% of commuters go by car or van, 12% walk, 0.8% cycle and 1.2% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 9.1% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Macroom?
Trips to work, school or college take 26.9 minutes on average; 7.1% take an hour or more and 38% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Macroom?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Macroom’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Macroom 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 Macroom 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).