Photo: Miguel Mendez from Malahide, Ireland · CC BY 2.0No religion: 12% of residents, a lower share than 85% of Irish towns
The median age in Letterkenny is 35.7, lower than in 73% of Irish towns. The town’s 8,440 households held 22,549 residents at the 2022 Census. In Letterkenny, 1% of homes are holiday homes. Shared households of unrelated adults make up 6.4%, against 4.7% across Ireland’s towns.
+9% since 2016, a pace 58% of Irish towns didn’t match
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%.
12% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 65% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 12%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Letterkenny, 35.7. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
Letterkenny: 12% of residents 15 and over are students, above 74% of Irish towns
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
39% of Letterkenny’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 14% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Across Letterkenny, 9.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Letterkenny households average 2.6 people, smaller than in 62% 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.
By its share of one-person households (26%), Letterkenny is above 63% of Irish towns. The share of households of parents with children stands at 43%.
13% of households live in a flat, more than in 55% 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
Connected households: 90% on broadband; 8.6% offline (typical: 7.6%). The comparison figure for households in flats is 12% across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 18% of households have no car or van.
Median household income here: €49,630 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 €49,630 a year, 17% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). In Co. Donegal overall, the median comes to €42,500.
Letterkenny sits above 83% of Irish towns for residents born outside Ireland (31%)
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 40%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 40%
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 (11%) or outside the EU and UK (9.1%). Typically, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Higher than in 69% of Irish towns: 19% of residents are citizens of another country.
An Irish-speaking town: 2.6% speak it daily outside education
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 7,362 people here, 37% of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. It is the highest share of Co. Donegal’s 6 towns of 2,500+. The benchmark for daily speakers of Irish outside education across Ireland’s towns: 1.1%.
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 69% of Irish towns: 73%
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: 73% of Letterkenny · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White Irish are Other White (11%), Asian or Asian Irish (9.2%) and Other, including mixed (3.5%). Against that, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. 70% of residents said they are Catholic, against 71% across Ireland’s 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.
5.1% of residents give unpaid care, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. For Letterkenny, the census puts married residents 15 and over at 34%.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 40% in Letterkenny, more than in 58% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, 14% of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 11% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Youngest by rank: 12th of 41 towns of 18,212 to 27,351 people
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Jobstown (32.4) and the oldest Beaumont (42.9). Nearest to Letterkenny in age: Mulhuddart (35.6), Lucan (35.7), Portlaoise (35.9) and Carlow (36.3).
Every nearby town is older than Letterkenny
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letterkenny | 22,549 | — | 35.7 | 12% | 43% |
| Ramelton | 1,288 | 10.2 km | 41.5 | 18% | 41% |
| Convoy | 1,702 | 11.5 km | 37.5 | 17% | 47% |
| Raphoe | 1,161 | 12.8 km | 40.1 | 20% | 41% |
| Milford | 1,076 | 15.0 km | 39 | 17% | 48% |
| Newtowncunningham | 1,192 | 15.0 km | 36.1 | 12% | 55% |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar | 5,406 | 18.0 km | 39.3 | 17% | 44% |
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 Letterkenny’s residents
What is the population of Letterkenny?
Letterkenny had 22,549 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Letterkenny?
The median age is 35.7, younger than 73% of Irish towns. 25% are under 18 and 12% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Letterkenny?
37% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (7,362 people), and 2.6% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Letterkenny?
73% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 31% were born abroad and 19% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Letterkenny?
70% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 18% another religion; 7.1% didn’t say.
Is Letterkenny good for families?
43% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Letterkenny are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Letterkenny?
Median gross household income in Letterkenny was €49,630 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).