Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0Working-age people in Newtowncunningham are less likely to have a job than in 90% of Irish towns
Unemployment in Newtowncunningham stood at 15% at the 2022 census (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). For jobs and income, Newtowncunningham earns a grade of D. Trips to work, school or college from Newtowncunningham take 23.3 minutes on average, with 3.1% taking an hour or more.
What the numbers say about work in Newtowncunningham
Fewer people in work than most towns
60% of people aged 15 to 64 in Newtowncunningham had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
15% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 5.5% 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 Newtowncunningham had €43,900 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 23.3 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 3.1% 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 and income in Newtowncunningham earn D
Its four measures together rank it better than 14% of Irish towns.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
Graded against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more; a shorter trip and less unemployment count in its favor.
Ranks start at 2,500 residents, so this grade has no rank.
How the grade works
Four measures, weighed equally against every Irish town of 1,000 people or more: median gross household income (CSO, 2022), people at work as a share of residents aged 15 to 64, the unemployment rate and the average trip to work, school or college (all three Census 2022). Each becomes a percentile; their average sets the letter.
The share in work in Newtowncunningham: 60% 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.
5.5% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Among the unemployed, 64% had been out of work that long. Of all residents aged 15 and over, retirees and students among them, 50% 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.
Newtowncunningham at the median: €43,900 a household
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 81% of Irish towns.
Newtowncunningham’s median is 3% above County Donegal’s (€42,497). One of the county’s 6 towns of 2,500 people or more has a higher median. After tax, the median is €41,480. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 37% above Newtowncunningham’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Work and school are closer to hand from Newtowncunningham than for the middle of Irish towns
The commonest trip is 15 to 44 minutes, for 65% of trips; the middle of County Donegal has 36%. In the middle of County Donegal, the trip averages 20.9 minutes. In County Donegal, 6 of 6 towns counted average a shorter trip. Under 15 minutes: 31% of trips, next to 56% in the middle of County Donegal.
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.
The work of Newtowncunningham’s residents, industry by industry
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 22% (against 25% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 1.1%.
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.
In Newtowncunningham, 8.4% of commuters leave the car behind
3.4% take the bus, against 1.4% in the middle of County Donegal. 79% go by car or van, against 75% in the middle of County Donegal. Home is the main workplace for 12%, close to the middle of Irish towns. The middle of Irish towns has 10% walking and 2.4% cycling; here it is 4.8% and 0.2%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
How many sign on in County Donegal: the count since 2019
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%. For 73 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. 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).
Jobs, studies and retirement in Newtowncunningham: 50% in work
Compared with Irish towns, 6.6% 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.
Getting around Newtowncunningham on foot earns D
Better than 7% of Irish towns on two measures together.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a pharmacy: 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.
Newtowncunningham and its neighbours: work and income
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newtowncunningham | 60% | 15% | €44K | 23.3 min | D | D |
| Ramelton 10.5 km | 66% | 12% | €46K | 22.3 min | C+ | D |
| Letterkenny 15 km | 65% | 12% | €50K | 19 min | B− | D |
| Raphoe 15.1 km | 53% | 20% | €35K | 20.8 min | D | C− |
| Milford 16.2 km | 64% | 13% | €46K | 20.6 min | C+ | D− |
| Buncrana 16.3 km | 63% | 12% | €38K | 20.3 min | C | D |
| Muff 16.9 km | 72% | 6.7% | €30K | 25.6 min | B | 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 Newtowncunningham, 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 Newtowncunningham
What is the unemployment rate in Newtowncunningham?
15% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 5.5% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Newtowncunningham a good place to find work?
Newtowncunningham earns a D for jobs and income, better than 14% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Newtowncunningham get to work?
79% of commuters go by car or van, 4.8% walk, 0.2% cycle and 3.4% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 12% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Newtowncunningham?
Trips to work, school or college take 23.3 minutes on average; 3.1% take an hour or more and 31% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Newtowncunningham?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Newtowncunningham’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Newtowncunningham 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 Newtowncunningham travel and how long their trips take.
Sources: CSO Census 2022 SAPS · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · CSO Live Register (LRM07) · OpenStreetMap (ODbL) · grades: TownRatings. 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).