Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 53: Pettigo is older than 99% of Irish towns
Compared with 4.7% across Ireland’s towns, 1.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. The 2022 Census counted 158 residents in 85 households. Here, 4.3% of homes are holiday homes. 27% of households are parents with children, fewer than in 89% of Irish towns.
−5% since 2016: slower than 99% 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 across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Donegal’s towns +6%.
34% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 99% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 12%; Pettigo has 11%. Typically, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
7.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 55% 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
Across Ireland’s towns, 34% of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Pettigo, 27% and 18%. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 7.5%.
Pettigo ranks above 99% of Irish towns on one-person households: 51%
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.
The typical household size is 1.9 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. To put it in context, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns.
A higher share of households without a car or van than 74% of Irish towns, at 23%
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
Home broadband covers 70% of households, while 31% go without the internet (typical: 7.6%). Across Ireland’s towns, households without a car or van come to 17%. Census figures put households in flats at 8.2% in Pettigo.
Median household income here: €30,180 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 €30,180 a year, 50% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). County median: €42,500 (Co. Donegal).
In Pettigo, 5.2% of residents are citizens of another country, fewer than in 98% of Irish towns
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 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
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.
Where 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns, Pettigo has 27%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the UK (23%) and outside the EU and UK (3.8%). Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 15% across Ireland’s towns.
Can speak Irish: 27% of Pettigo’s 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
Within Co. Donegal, Letterkenny has the largest share, 2.6%. Daily speakers of Irish outside education are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns.
95% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, a share 99% of Irish towns don’t reach
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: 95% of Pettigo · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who said they are Catholic is 71%; Pettigo has 88%. Measured more widely, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. Census figures put residents with no religion at 9.7% here.
A larger share of unpaid carers than 96% of Irish towns: 7%
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.
32% of residents 15 and over are married (Ireland’s towns: 34%). For comparison, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of adults with a degree or higher than 96% of Irish towns, at 15%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Pettigo’s adults, 2.6% went on to postgraduate study and 32% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). As a reference point, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
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 Pettigo’s residents
What is the population of Pettigo?
Pettigo had 158 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 5% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Pettigo?
The median age is 53. 16% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Pettigo?
27% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (41 people), and 0% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Pettigo?
95% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 27% were born abroad and 5.2% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Pettigo?
88% are Catholic, 9.7% have no religion and 1.9% another religion; 1.9% didn’t say.
Is Pettigo good for families?
27% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 16% of residents are under 18. Schools near Pettigo are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Pettigo?
Median gross household income in Pettigo was €30,180 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).