Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0Lifford ranks below 99% of Irish towns on shared households of unrelated adults: 1.2%
17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns, against 6.6% in Lifford. At the 2022 Census, 1,613 people lived locally, in 643 households. Households without a car or van: 24% of the total. The median age here is 39.1, higher than in 68% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Lifford
Fewer people than before
Lifford went from about 1,630 people in 2016 to 1,613 in 2022, −1%: slower growth than in 96% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Since 2016, Lifford has changed by −1%, slower than 96% 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%.
Lifford ranks above 68% of Irish towns on residents aged 65 and over: 16%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
At 12%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is in line with the figure across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, 14% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
In Lifford, 7.5% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer than in 97% 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
The occupation that stands out is caring, leisure and other services: 14%, where 8.3% is typical. 3.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a lower share than in 96% of Irish towns. Against that, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
One-person households make up 29% in Lifford, more than in 77% 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.
Households average 2.5 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. 43% of households are parents with children. Measured more widely, 24% of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns.
Only 7.9% of households live in a flat or apartment in Lifford
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
There is little gap on holiday homes: 0.1%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
A median household income of €31,960 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 €31,960 gross, 47% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Donegal as a whole has a median of €42,500.
Fewer residents with another country’s citizenship than 98% of Irish towns: 4.5%
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 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
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.
5% speak another language at home, most often Polish (0.7%); 0.5% speak English not well or not at all. Across Ireland’s towns, 15% of residents are citizens of another country. Higher than in 65% of Irish towns: 26% of residents were born outside Ireland.
20% of Lifford’s residents can speak Irish
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
In all, 301 residents aged 3 and over (20%) can speak Irish. 1.3% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, more than in 67% of Irish towns.
A higher White Irish share than 98% of Irish towns: 93% of residents
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: 93% of Lifford · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
After White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (4.2%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.3%) and Irish Traveller (0.9%). On average, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. 89% of residents said they are Catholic, a higher share than in 99% of Irish towns.
Lifford ranks below 77% of Irish towns on married residents 15 and over: 30%
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.
Across Lifford, 5.5% of residents give unpaid care. 58% of the town’s residents 15 and over are single and 30% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
Lifford ranks below 94% of Irish towns on adults with a degree or higher: 17%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
A postgraduate qualification is the highest level for 4% of adults; primary level or less for 24% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). The wider picture: 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
2 of the 4 nearest towns are older than Lifford
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifford | 1,613 | — | 39.1 | 16% | 43% |
| Raphoe | 1,161 | 8.3 km | 40.1 | 20% | 41% |
| Convoy | 1,702 | 11.6 km | 37.5 | 17% | 47% |
| Newtowncunningham | 1,192 | 18.0 km | 36.1 | 12% | 55% |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar | 5,406 | 19.0 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 Lifford’s residents
What is the population of Lifford?
Lifford had 1,613 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Lifford?
The median age is 39.1. 26% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Lifford?
20% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (301 people), and 1.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Lifford?
93% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 26% were born abroad and 4.5% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Lifford?
89% are Catholic, 6.6% have no religion and 4.4% another religion; 3.6% didn’t say.
Is Lifford good for families?
43% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 26% of residents are under 18. Schools near Lifford are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Lifford?
Median gross household income in Lifford was €31,960 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).