Photo: dan kearney · CC BY-SA 3.07.4% of homes are holiday homes, a share 98% of Irish towns don’t reach
4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns, against 1.8% in Buncrana. The census found that 85% of residents said they are Catholic here. The median age in the town is 39.8, higher than in 77% of Irish towns. At the 2022 Census, 6,971 people lived locally, in 2,603 households.
What stands out about the people of Buncrana
Many carers
About 480 residents (6.9%) give regular unpaid care, more than in 96% of Irish towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Growing more slowly than most
Buncrana went from about 6,910 people in 2016 to 6,971 in 2022, +1%: slower growth than in 88% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A +1% change since 2016: slower than 88% 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, half of towns changed by more than +8%; across Co. Donegal’s towns, by more than +6%.
Above 69% of Irish towns: 16% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 10–14: 8% of residents. In Donegal, the oldest of Co. Donegal’s towns by this measure, it is 21%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Buncrana, 39.8. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
Only 4.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Buncrana
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
Work here tilts toward skilled trades, at 16% against a typical 11%. The comparison figure for residents who moved in within the year is 7.5% across Ireland’s towns. In Buncrana, 10% of residents 15 and over are students.
47% of households are parents with children, a share 69% of Irish towns don’t reach
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.
A household here has 2.6 people on average; across Ireland’s towns, 2.7. Set beside that, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns. Locally, 28% of households are one person living alone.
5% of households live in a flat or apartment, below 88% of Irish towns
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
Home broadband covers 87% of households, while 11% go without the internet (typical: 7.6%). Across Ireland’s towns, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment. In one household in 6 there is no car or van.
A median household income of €38,340 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €38,340 gross, 36% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Across Co. Donegal, the middle household has €42,500.
Below 81% of Irish towns: 9.3% of residents are citizens of another country
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 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
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.
Most residents from abroad were born in the UK (19%) or elsewhere in the EU (3.5%). Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with another country’s citizenship is 15%. Buncrana has more residents born outside Ireland than 71% of Irish towns, at 28%.
Irish speakers make up 33% of Buncrana
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
On daily speakers of Irish outside education, 1.3% here is much the same as across Ireland’s towns. Letterkenny leads Co. Donegal with 2.6%.
Residents with no religion: 9.6%, a lower share than 95% 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: 88% of Buncrana · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as White Irish is 88% in Buncrana and 78% across Ireland’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (9.3%), Other, including mixed (1.4%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.9%). By way of comparison, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns.
38% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 81% of Irish towns don’t reach
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.
6.9% of residents give unpaid care, against 5.4% across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 27% in Buncrana, less than in 71% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Buncrana’s adults, 9.2% went on to postgraduate study and 15% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). For comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
In its size band (5,981 to 8,188), the 10th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At the ends of the range sit Temple Bar (31.4), the youngest, and Perrystown (45.1), the oldest. Nearest to Buncrana in age: Marino (39.8), Monaghan (39.8), The Glen (40.6) and Thurles (40.6).
2 in 5 nearby towns have a higher median age than Buncrana
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buncrana | 6,971 | — | 39.8 | 16% | 47% |
| Muff | 1,418 | 13.5 km | 40.4 | 11% | 44% |
| Newtowncunningham | 1,192 | 16.3 km | 36.1 | 12% | 55% |
| Milford | 1,076 | 16.5 km | 39 | 17% | 48% |
| Carndonagh | 2,768 | 16.6 km | 37.4 | 16% | 45% |
| Ramelton | 1,288 | 17.1 km | 41.5 | 18% | 41% |
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 Buncrana’s residents
What is the population of Buncrana?
Buncrana had 6,971 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Buncrana?
The median age is 39.8, older than 77% of Irish towns. 26% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Buncrana?
33% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (2,082 people), and 1.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Buncrana?
88% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 28% were born abroad and 9.3% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Buncrana?
85% are Catholic, 9.6% have no religion and 5.2% another religion; 4.1% didn’t say.
Is Buncrana good for families?
47% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 26% of residents are under 18. Schools near Buncrana are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Buncrana?
Median gross household income in Buncrana was €38,340 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).