Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of residents with no religion than 99% of Irish towns: 7.6%
30% of households are one person living alone, against 24% across Ireland’s towns. There were 2,084 households in Ballybofey-Stranorlar at the 2022 Census, home to 5,406 residents. The census found that 7.3% of households live in a flat or apartment locally. With a median age of 39.3, Ballybofey-Stranorlar is older than 69% of Irish towns.
Ballybofey-Stranorlar changed by +5% from 2016 to 2022, behind 66% 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.
Across Ireland’s towns the median change is +8%; across Co. Donegal’s towns, +6%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 73% of Irish towns: 17%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Here just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 12%. More residents are 40–44 than any other five-year age: 7.9% of residents. Against that, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Ballybofey-Stranorlar, 39.3. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Only 5.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Ballybofey-Stranorlar
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
Ballybofey-Stranorlar sits close to the norm on students among residents 15 and over: 9.1%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. On average, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 1.9%, a lower share than 96% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Donegal’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Households average 2.5 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns. For Ballybofey-Stranorlar, the census puts households of parents with children at 44%.
Above 91% of Irish towns: 1.7% of homes are holiday homes
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
Households without a car or van: 16% here and 17% across Ireland’s towns. As a reference point, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns.
Median household income here: €41,330 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Before tax, the middle household here has €41,330 a year, 31% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Donegal as a whole has a median of €42,500.
11% of residents are citizens of another country, below 74% of Irish towns
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.
Residents born abroad were most often born in the UK (12%), then outside the EU and UK (4%). On average, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents born outside Ireland is 22%; Ballybofey-Stranorlar has 23%.
1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 56% of Irish towns
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
Some 1,516 people here, 30% of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. In Co. Donegal, Letterkenny has the highest share (2.6%). As a reference point, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
In Ballybofey-Stranorlar, 83% of residents said they are Catholic, more than in 96% of Irish towns
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: 84% of Ballybofey-Stranorlar · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (10%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.1%) and Other, including mixed (1.9%). On average, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. Few places have as many residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 84% here, more than in nearly three quarters of Irish towns.
Half of adults have never married
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.
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns: 6%. Census figures put married residents 15 and over at 34% in Ballybofey-Stranorlar.
Only 27% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher in Ballybofey-Stranorlar
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, nearly one in ten adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 15% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. For adults with a degree or higher, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 36%.
The 15th oldest of 41 towns of 4,875 to 5,991 people
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Gillabbey is the youngest (25.6); Sutton the oldest (45.4). Nearest to Ballybofey-Stranorlar in age: Roscrea (37.8), Knocknaheeny (39.3), Edmondstown (39.5) and Glounthaune (40.1).
Older than Ballybofey-Stranorlar: 1 of the 4 towns nearby
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar | 5,406 | — | 39.3 | 17% | 44% |
| Convoy | 1,702 | 10.3 km | 37.5 | 17% | 47% |
| Raphoe | 1,161 | 13.9 km | 40.1 | 20% | 41% |
| Letterkenny | 22,549 | 18.0 km | 35.7 | 12% | 43% |
| Lifford | 1,613 | 19.0 km | 39.1 | 16% | 43% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Donegal’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Donegal’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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar’s residents
What is the population of Ballybofey-Stranorlar?
Ballybofey-Stranorlar had 5,406 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 5% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballybofey-Stranorlar?
The median age is 39.3, older than 69% of Irish towns. 25% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballybofey-Stranorlar?
30% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,516 people), and 1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballybofey-Stranorlar?
84% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 23% were born abroad and 11% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballybofey-Stranorlar?
83% are Catholic, 7.6% have no religion and 9.3% another religion; 3.6% didn’t say.
Is Ballybofey-Stranorlar good for families?
44% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballybofey-Stranorlar are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballybofey-Stranorlar?
Median gross household income in Ballybofey-Stranorlar was €41,330 in 2022, against €42,500 across Co. Donegal 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).