Photo: Alistair Cunningham · CC BY 3.0Earning a living in Fahan
Unemployment in Fahan stood at 8% at the 2022 census, next to 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. Getting to work, school or college from Fahan takes 22 minutes on average, with 2.6% taking an hour or more. 18% of its workers worked mainly from home on census day in 2022.
Work in Fahan, in a few figures
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Fahan had €39,270 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 22 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 2.6% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Many work from home
18% of workers worked mainly from home on census day, against 11% in the middle of Irish towns. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
The figures behind jobs and income in Fahan
Fahan has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts. The figures on this page are still its own.
Median household income in Fahan is €39,270
Before tax, 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760.
3 of the county’s 6 towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €36,200. The State median is €60,123, 53% above Fahan’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
22 minutes from Fahan, shorter than the 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns
The trip from the middle of County Donegal averages 20.9 minutes. 5 of the 6 towns of County Donegal counted have a shorter average trip. Short trips of under 15 minutes make up 42%, where the middle of County Donegal has 56%. 53% of trips take 15 to 44 minutes, where the middle of County Donegal has 36%.
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.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 3.5% of Fahan’s commuters
In the middle of County Donegal, 75% drive to work; here it is 78%. The middle of Irish towns has 6% going by bus; here it is 1%. On foot: 2.5% of commuters, next to 10% in the middle of Irish towns.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
The work of Fahan’s residents, industry by industry
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 21% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 1.3%.
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.
Jobs for 69% of people aged 15 to 64 in Fahan
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 1.4% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 34% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 47% 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.
The count signing on in County Donegal is 28% below its 2019 level
6,785 people were signing on in County Donegal in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 fell by 7%. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 73 months. County Donegal saw its highest month in May 2020: 10,882 people signing on, 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).
31% of adults in Fahan are retired
Compared with Irish towns, 47% are in work (against 57%) and 2.7% are long-term sick or disabled (against 4.7%).
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 Fahan
Not graded: the Walkability grade starts at 1,000 residents.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a food shop: 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 near Fahan: the places around it
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fahan | 69% | 8% | €39K | 22 min | — | — |
| Buncrana 5.8 km | 63% | 12% | €38K | 20.3 min | C | D |
| Newtowncunningham 10.5 km | 60% | 15% | €44K | 23.3 min | D | D |
| Muff 12.6 km | 72% | 6.7% | €30K | 25.6 min | B | D |
| Ramelton 12.9 km | 66% | 12% | €46K | 22.3 min | C+ | D |
| Milford 14.4 km | 64% | 13% | €46K | 20.6 min | C+ | 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 Fahan, 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 Fahan
What is the unemployment rate in Fahan?
8% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 1.4% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
How do people in Fahan get to work?
78% of commuters go by car or van, 2.5% walk, 0% cycle and 1% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 18% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Fahan?
Trips to work, school or college take 22 minutes on average; 2.6% take an hour or more and 42% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Fahan?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Fahan’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Fahan 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 Fahan 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).