Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0More holiday homes than 96% of Irish towns: 5.8%
Across Ireland’s towns, 71% of residents said they are Catholic; in Milford, 84%. Here, 17% of residents are 65 or over. Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than in 81% of Irish towns: 3.1%. The 2022 Census counted 1,076 people in the town, in 421 households; half are older than 39.
Milford changed by +1% from 2016 to 2022, slower than 87% 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.
The median change is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +6% across Co. Donegal’s towns.
A median age of 39: Milford is older than 67% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 10–14: nearly one in ten residents. Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 86% of Irish towns. In Donegal, the oldest of Co. Donegal’s towns by this measure, it is 21%.
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%.
Only 2.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Milford
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
In Milford, the professional, managerial and technical classes take in 31% of residents and the semi-skilled and unskilled classes 21%, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
A higher share of households of parents with children than 74% of Irish towns, at 48%
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 (29%), Milford is above three quarters of Irish towns. As a reference point, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns. Each household has 2.6 people on average.
Only 3.6% of households live in a flat or apartment in Milford
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
Just over four in five households are on broadband; 15% have no internet connection (typical: 7.6%). Households in flats: 12% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison. Across Milford, 17% of households have no car or van.
Median household income here: €45,750 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €45,750 sits 24% below Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Donegal as a whole, the figure is €42,500.
A lower share of residents with another country’s citizenship than 95% of Irish towns, at 7%
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.
17% of residents were born outside Ireland (Ireland’s towns: 22%). Across the comparison, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Another language is spoken at home by 3.6%, most often French (0.4%); 0.3% speak English not well or not at all.
In Milford, Irish is spoken by 35% of residents
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 336 people here, just over a third of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Milford sits close to the norm on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns.
Residents with no religion: 8.1%, a lower share than 99% of Irish towns
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: 90% of Milford · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White Irish, the main groups are Other White (6.5%), Irish Traveller (1.2%) and Other, including mixed (0.8%). Milford has more residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 97% of Irish towns, at 90%. On average, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns.
Only 33% of residents 15 and over are married in Milford
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.
Unpaid carers: 5%, near enough the figure across Ireland’s towns. Typically, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher: 24%, a lower share than 81% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Across Ireland’s towns, 9.7% of adults finished at primary level or earlier; in Milford, 14%, and 5.1% hold a postgraduate qualification. The comparison figure for adults with a degree or higher is 36% across Ireland’s towns.
2 of the 4 nearest towns are older than Milford
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milford | 1,076 | — | 39 | 17% | 48% |
| Ramelton | 1,288 | 6.6 km | 41.5 | 18% | 41% |
| Letterkenny | 22,549 | 15.0 km | 35.7 | 12% | 43% |
| Newtowncunningham | 1,192 | 16.2 km | 36.1 | 12% | 55% |
| Buncrana | 6,971 | 16.5 km | 39.8 | 16% | 47% |
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 Milford’s residents
What is the population of Milford?
Milford had 1,076 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 1% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Milford?
The median age is 39. 25% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Milford?
35% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (336 people), and 1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Milford?
90% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 17% were born abroad and 7% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Milford?
84% are Catholic, 8.1% have no religion and 7.8% another religion; 6.8% didn’t say.
Is Milford good for families?
48% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Milford are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Milford?
Median gross household income in Milford was €45,750 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).