#1Donegal
2,749 peopleScore 59.8·#66 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: hazard risk B+, cost of living B+·lowest: walkability B−
Donegal, #1 on this list · Photo: P L Chadwick (CC BY-SA 2.0)Donegal · 2026
Best places to live in County Donegal
Scores on the list run from 59.8 down to 32.2. First of the 6 ranked towns in County Donegal is Donegal, #66 of 320 nationally. The list’s runner-up is Carndonagh, at B−. The A range holds one town on this list.
The overall score, sorted within the county; the letter compares each town with every town in Ireland of 2,500+, and its national rank sits beside it. How grades work
#1A−
#2Carndonagh
2,768 peopleScore 48.3·#156 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: cost of living A+, hazard risk A·lowest: jobs & income D
#3Buncrana
6,971 peopleScore 45.2·#187 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: cost of living A, health B−·lowest: walkability D
All 6 towns, ranked
By overall score against Irish towns; ranks are within the county, and each national rank links to the national list.
#TownScoreGrade · national rankWhat drives it
1Donegal2,749 people59.8top 20.5%A−#66 of 320 nationallyStrongest: hazard risk B+, cost of living B+·lowest: walkability B−
2Carndonagh2,768 people48.3top 48.6%B−#156 of 320 nationallyStrongest: cost of living A+, hazard risk A·lowest: jobs & income D
3Buncrana6,971 people45.2bottom 41.7%C+#187 of 320 nationallyStrongest: cost of living A, health B−·lowest: walkability D
4Ballybofey-Stranorlar5,406 people43.9bottom 37.6%C+#200 of 320 nationallyStrongest: cost of living A, safety C+·lowest: walkability D
5Bundoran2,599 people42.0bottom 32.3%C#217 of 320 nationallyStrongest: cost of living A−, hazard risk A−·lowest: jobs & income C−
6Letterkenny22,549 people32.2bottom 11.9%D#282 of 320 nationallyStrongest: cost of living B, jobs & income B−·lowest: hazard risk D
Quick answers
Questions people ask
How are these towns ranked?
By the overall grade, which blends six graded subjects (safety, cost of living, health, jobs & income, walkability and hazard risk) from public data, each comparing a town with every town in Ireland of 1,000 or more. The rank is among the towns of 2,500 or more in County Donegal, where five or more have an overall grade.
Why isn’t my town on this list?
The list covers places of 2,500 or more with an overall grade. Smaller places, and towns missing figures the overall grade needs, show their grades on their own pages; every town is listed on the County Donegal page.
County by county
Best places to live, county by county
Photos: Donegal, P L Chadwick (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Carndonagh, Rossographer (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Buncrana, dan kearney (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Irish towns against each other only, run #71 of 9 November 2026. 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).