Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0Where Drumkeen earns its living
12% of the labour force in Drumkeen was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. The average trip to work, school or college from Drumkeen takes 24.5 minutes; for 4.5%, it takes an hour or more. There is no Jobs & income Grade for Drumkeen: it has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts.
What the numbers say about work in Drumkeen
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Drumkeen had €40,960 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. CSO publishes no income figure for this place, so this one is our estimate from its electoral divisions. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 24.5 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 4.5% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Jobs and income in Drumkeen, without a grade
Drumkeen has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts. The figures on this page are still its own.
What households earn in Drumkeen: €40,960 a year
Before tax, 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760.
That puts Drumkeen 4% below the median for County Donegal as a whole, €42,497. 3 of the county’s 6 towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €37,600. The State median is €60,123, 47% above Drumkeen’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Less time on the road to work or school from Drumkeen than in the middle of Irish towns
Most often, a trip takes 15 to 44 minutes: 63%, against 36% in the middle of County Donegal. Across County Donegal, the middle town’s trips average 20.9 minutes. Of the 6 towns of County Donegal counted, 6 have a shorter average trip. The middle of County Donegal has 56% of trips under 15 minutes; here it is 27%.
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.
Where Drumkeen’s residents work, by industry
Commerce and trade is the second-largest at 24%, against 26% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 2%.
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.
68% of Drumkeen’s 15-to-64s are in work
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Donegal, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 3.8% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 51% had been out of work that long. 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.
How Drumkeen gets to work: 2.1% without a car
On foot 1.4%, by bike 0.7%: the middle of Irish towns has 10% and 2.4%. 89% of commuters go by car or van. The middle of Irish towns has 11% working mainly from home; here it is 7.6%. Hardly anyone takes the bus or train to work; the middle of Irish towns has 6% by bus and 0.9% by rail.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
28% fewer people sign on in County Donegal than in 2019
6,785 people were signing on in County Donegal in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count fell by 7%. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 73 months. County Donegal: signing on peaked in May 2020 at 10,882, 9% 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).
How Drumkeen spends its days: 57% of adults in 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.
The everyday places near home in Drumkeen
Not graded: the Walkability grade starts at 1,000 residents.
Of the everyday places, a pharmacy is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (0%).
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.
Jobs and income in the places around Drumkeen
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drumkeen | 68% | 12% | €41K | 24.5 min | — | — |
| Convoy 5.8 km | 63% | 15% | €39K | 21.2 min | C− | D− |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar 7.6 km | 63% | 14% | €41K | 22.3 min | C− | D |
| Raphoe 9.7 km | 53% | 20% | €35K | 20.8 min | D | C− |
| Letterkenny 10.4 km | 65% | 12% | €50K | 19 min | B− | D |
| Lifford 17.2 km | 52% | 23% | €32K | 23.5 min | D− | D |
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 Drumkeen, 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 Drumkeen
What is the unemployment rate in Drumkeen?
12% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3.8% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
How do people in Drumkeen get to work?
89% of commuters go by car or van, 1.4% walk, 0.7% cycle and 0% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 7.6% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Drumkeen?
Trips to work, school or college take 24.5 minutes on average; 4.5% take an hour or more and 27% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Drumkeen?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Drumkeen’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Drumkeen 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 Drumkeen travel and how long their trips take.
Sources: CSO Census 2022 SAPS · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · CSO Live Register (LRM07) · OpenStreetMap (ODbL). 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).