Photo: David Hawgood · CC BY-SA 2.0Tower has higher household incomes than 80% of Irish towns
On jobs and income together, Tower grades A−, #18 of 54 in County Cork. At the 2022 census, 5.9% of the labour force in Tower had no job; the middle of Irish towns is 9.2%.
Work in Tower, in a few figures
Less unemployment than most towns
5.9% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 1.7% 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 Tower had €74,113 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
On jobs and income, Tower grades A−
With four measures combined, it comes out better than 85% of Irish towns, #18 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.
69% of working-age people in Tower have jobs
Of the 53 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Cork, 28 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 1.7% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 46% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 58% 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.
What households earn in Tower: €74,113 a year
That puts Tower 22% above the median for County Cork as a whole, €60,671. 9 of the county’s 53 other towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €61,117. The State median is €60,123, 19% below Tower’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
What Tower does for a living
Commerce and trade is the second-largest at 23%, against 26% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 0.5%.
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.
Without a car, 6.3% of Tower’s commuters get to work
Against 10% and 2.4% in the middle of Irish towns, 1.8% walk and 0.3% cycle. Driving dominates: 83% go to work by car or van. Working mainly from home is about as common as in the middle of Irish towns, at 11%. By bus: 4.2% of commuters, next to 6% in the middle of Irish towns.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
At 26.8 minutes, trips from Tower are close to the middle of Irish towns
3.8% of trips take an hour or more, about the same as in the middle of County Cork. Most often, a trip takes 15 to 44 minutes: 69%, against 59% in the middle of County Cork. The middle of County Cork averages 24.8 minutes a trip. 43 of the 54 towns of County Cork counted have a shorter average trip. Short trips of under 15 minutes make up 22%, 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.
How many sign on in County Cork: the count since 2019
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. County Cork saw its highest month in July 2020: 25,292 people signing on, 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).
In work, studying or retired: 58% of Tower’s adults work
The mix is close to Irish towns’ as a whole.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
Getting around Tower on foot earns D−
Better than 5% of Irish towns on two measures together, #319 of 321 Irish towns.
Of the everyday places, a post office is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (13%).
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.
Tower next to Irish towns of 2,500 to 4,500: 10th of 81 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annacotty County Limerick | 3,398 | 71% | 6% | €90K | A+ |
| 2 | Glanmire County Cork | 4,454 | 71% | 5.6% | €87K | A+ |
| 3 | Grange Upper County Waterford | 2,510 | 71% | 7.4% | €65K | A |
| 4 | Riverstown County Cork | 3,664 | 70% | 5.1% | €83K | A |
| 5 | Blarney County Cork | 2,779 | 73% | 5.4% | €67K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Lehenagh County Cork | 4,154 | 69% | 6.8% | €79K | A |
| 9 | Ballina County Tipperary | 2,959 | 71% | 5.4% | €73K | A |
| 10 | Tower County Cork | 3,300 | 69% | 5.9% | €74K | A− |
| 11 | Kilcullen County Kildare | 3,815 | 73% | 6.4% | €66K | A− |
| 12 | Kill County Kildare | 3,818 | 74% | 6.1% | €75K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 81 | Courtown County Wexford | 4,365 | 60% | 15% | €44K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Tower, and others in County Cork.
Work next door to Tower
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower | 69% | 5.9% | €74K | 26.8 min | A− | D− |
| Blarney 3.1 km | 73% | 5.4% | €67K | 26.2 min | A | C |
| Ballincollig 4.6 km | 73% | 5.1% | €76K | 22.8 min | A+ | C |
| Killumney 6.9 km | 77% | 3.5% | €91K | 22.9 min | A+ | D− |
| Shanakiel 7.2 km | 67% | 10% | €55K | 26.6 min | B− | B+ |
| Hollyhill and Ballincolly 7.3 km | 66% | 7.9% | €70K | 24.7 min | B+ | D |
| Bishopstown 7.5 km | 60% | 6.9% | €60K | 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 Tower, 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 Tower
What is the unemployment rate in Tower?
5.9% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 1.7% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Tower a good place to find work?
Tower earns an A− for jobs and income, better than 85% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #18 of 54 in County Cork.
How do people in Tower get to work?
83% of commuters go by car or van, 1.8% walk, 0.3% cycle and 4.2% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 11% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Tower?
Trips to work, school or college take 26.8 minutes on average; 3.8% take an hour or more and 22% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Tower?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Tower’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Tower 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 Tower 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).