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Malin village greenPhoto: danny kearney · CC BY-SA 2.0
–Not graded
Work & commute in Malin · Census 2022, CSO

Work, pay and getting to work in Malin

18% of its workers worked mainly from home on census day in 2022. The 2022 census put unemployment in Malin at 21% (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). Getting to work, school or college from Malin takes 22.5 minutes on average; for 12%, it takes an hour or more.

What stands out · In brief

Malin at work: what stands out

Fewer people in work than most towns

51% of people aged 15 to 64 in Malin had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓

More unemployment than most towns

21% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 2.2% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓

Lower incomes than most towns

The median household in Malin had €40,080 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 22.5 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 12% 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 & income Grade

Work and pay in Malin, ungraded

Malin has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts. The figures on this page are still its own.

In work

How many in Malin have a job: 51% of 15-to-64s

None of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Donegal has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.

In work, 15 to 64: places of 2,500+ in County Donegal
Malin 51%Middle of Irish towns: 68%
50%55%60%65%70%75%
Unemployment rate
21%
of the labour force, 2022 census
middle of Irish towns: 9.2%
Out of work a year or more
2.2%
of people aged 15 and over
In work, all ages
30%
of people aged 15 and over, retirees included

Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 2.2% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 27% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 30% 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.

Household income

The middle household in Malin: €40,080 a year

Before tax, 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760.

Malin €40KMiddle of Irish towns: €58K
€30K€35K€40K€45K€50K€55K€60K
County medianCounty Donegal€42,497
Whole countryIreland€60,123
Highest in County DonegalLetterkenny€49,625

That puts Malin 6% 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 €37,510. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 50% above Malin’s.

CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.

Signing on

The Live Register count in County Donegal since 2019

0204060801001202019202120232025Covid-19County Donegal 68
County Donegal

6,785 people were signing on in County Donegal in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count fell by 7%. For 73 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. County Donegal: signing on peaked in May 2020 at 10,882, 9% above the 2019 average.

Signing on
6,785
County Donegal, September 2026
In a year
−6.9%
change on the same month last year
Since 2019
−28%
against 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).

On foot

What is within walking distance in Malin

Not graded: the Walkability grade starts at 1,000 residents.

Residents within 800 m of a… Malin · Places of 2,500+ in County Donegal · Middle of Irish towns
Grocery or supermarket100%
Pharmacy0%
School100%
Post office100%
Family doctor (GP)0%
Bakery0%

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.

Neighbours

Work next door to Malin

TownIn work, 15–64UnemploymentIncomeAverage tripJobsWalk
Malin51%21%€40K22.5 min——
Carndonagh
5.6 km
61%15%€35K21.6 minDC−
Moville
18.3 km
65%11%€32K23.4 minCB−

The people of each place: the share in work, unemployment, household income and trip times, with both grades.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

What each figure measures for Malin, 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.

How the Jobs & income grade is made for Irish towns

Questions about work in Malin

What is the unemployment rate in Malin?

21% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 2.2% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.

How long is the commute from Malin?

Trips to work, school or college take 22.5 minutes on average; 12% take an hour or more and 56% under a quarter of an hour.

How many jobs are there in Malin?

Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Malin’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.

Where do people in Malin 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 Malin 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).