Donegal · P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0County Donegal, subject by subject
County Donegal is near the foot of Ireland’s counties, 26th of 26 overall, though it does best on hazards; its weakest subject is jobs and income.
Each subject puts an official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
21st of 26C−20/100 Behind most counties for safety. Both measures agree, on the weaker side: the county as a whole and its towns.
Violent crime alone (assault, robbery, kidnapping, weapons): 6.0 per 1,000 a year (Ireland 5.9), 20th of 26.
Every recorded crime but fraud, theft, drugs and road traffic included: 39.0 per 1,000 a year (Ireland 54.1), 8th of 26.
Source: CSO, recorded crime incidents by Garda station (CJA11), 2023-2025, fraud left out; each station’s area from the Census 2011 Garda sub-districts, and every Small Area’s residents (Census 2022) given its station area’s rate. Homicide and sexual offences aren’t published by station.
Measure: our Safety grade: violent crime, burglary and criminal damage per resident of the Garda station areas around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Ireland’s 320 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 6 towns in County Donegal.
The big places weigh on the total
Its safest towns are Donegal, Carndonagh and Ballybofey-Stranorlar, ranked against all 320 graded Irish towns. At the other end are Letterkenny, in the quarter of town residents living with the most recorded crime.
| County | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayo | 74% | 0% | |
| Kildare | 54% | 0% | |
| Cork | 53% | 15% | |
| Wicklow | 48% | 0% | |
| Meath | 41% | 0% | |
| Donegal | 0% | 52% |
Where crimes are counted
Garda stations record crimes where they are reported, and each station’s count is spread over the residents of its area, so a town-centre station’s shoplifting and public-order offences weigh on the people living around it. The county figure averages every resident’s station area; the town grades count violence, burglary and damage, the crimes that reach people at home.
Schools
Not gradedNot graded in Ireland (Education Act 1998, s.53). Section 53 of the Education Act 1998 rules out school league tables, so neither towns nor counties get a Schools grade, and no county results figure is published. Each town’s Schools page lists its schools.
Cost of living
12th of 26B56/100 Mid-table on cost of living. Both measures agree: the whole county and its towns do well here.
A year’s rent on a new tenancy: 28% of median household income (middle county 28%), 15th of 26.
Median sale price, 2025: €165,000 (Ireland €360,000), 2nd of 26.
Average monthly rent on new tenancies, 2025: €977 (middle county €1,207), 1st of 26.
Source: CSO, median price of residential sales by county, 2025 (Revenue stamp-duty filings, HPA02); RTB average monthly rent on new tenancies, 2025 (RIA02; none for the State as a whole); CSO Geographical Profiles of Income, 2022 (median gross household income, GPIIA05).
Measure: our Cost of living grade: sale prices and rents against the area’s household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Ireland’s 321 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 6 towns in County Donegal.
Health
21st of 26C−20/100 In the lower half of the counties on health. Both measures agree, on the weaker side: the county as a whole and its towns.
Deaths, age-standardised, 2020-2024: 933 a year per 100,000 people (Ireland 918), 15th of 26.
Disability against Ireland’s rate for the same ages: 102 (Ireland 100), 17th of 26.
Source: CSO, Census 2022 general health and disability by Small Area, against Ireland’s rates for each sex and age; CSO age-standardised mortality by county, 2020-2024 (MORT04). No life expectancy is published by county.
Measure: our Health grade: bad health and disability against Ireland’s rates for each town’s ages. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Ireland’s 321 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 6 towns in County Donegal.
Jobs & income
25th of 26D−4/100 Near the foot of Ireland’s counties on jobs and income. The county’s own figure and its towns both sit on the weaker side.
Unemployment (Census 2022, aged 15 and over): 10.6% (Ireland 8.3%), 24th of 26.
Disposable income per person, 2024: €24,700 (Ireland €30,100), 24th of 26.
Source: CSO, Geographical Profiles of Income, 2022 (GPIIA05); County Incomes, 2024 (RAA02); Census 2022 (unemployment, aged 15 and over).
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: household income, the share at work, unemployment and commute times. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Ireland’s 321 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 6 towns in County Donegal.
Getting about
23rd of 26D12/100 Near the foot of Ireland’s counties on getting about. Both measures agree, on the weaker side: the county as a whole and its towns.
Drive or are driven to work: 77% (Ireland 69%).
Work mainly from home: 12% of workers (Ireland 12%), 7th of 26.
Source: CSO, Census 2022, means of travel to work by Small Area; people who work mainly from home or didn’t say left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: everyday places within reach of residents, and walking, cycling and public transport to work. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Ireland’s 321 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 6 towns in County Donegal.
Hazards
11th of 26B60/100 Better than most counties for hazards. The county’s own figure and its towns tell the same story.
Homes estimated over the radon reference level, averaged over residents: 3.8% (Ireland 7.0%), 10th of 26.
Source: EPA radon map: the estimated share of homes over the reference level in each 10 km square, under each Small Area’s residents (Census 2022).
Measure: our Hazards grade: radon, landslide ground and, where LiDAR covers the town, homes lying low beside water. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Ireland’s 321 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 6 towns in County Donegal.
Growth
24th of 26D8/100 Near the foot of Ireland’s counties on growth. Both measures agree, on the weaker side: the county as a whole and its towns.
Since 2011: +3.7% (Ireland +12.2%), 26th of 26.
Source: CSO, census populations by county, 2011, 2016 and 2022 (F1003).
Measure: population change from 2016 to 2022 (census). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in Ireland’s 307 graded towns of 2,500 or more. 6 towns in County Donegal.
How County Donegal compares with its neighbours
| Donegal | Leitrim | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | D− 026th of 26 | C+ 4415th of 26 |
| Safety | C− 2017th official · 0% in top towns | B− 5213th official |
| Schools | Not graded | Not graded |
| Cost of living | B 563rd official · 48% in top towns | A− 805th official |
| Health | C− 2018th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2411th official |
| Jobs & income | D− 426th official · 0% in top towns | D 825th official |
| Getting about | D 1224th official · 0% in top towns | D− 425th official |
| Hazards | B 607th official · 19% in top towns | A 886th official |
| Growth | D 826th official · 6% in top towns | A 884th official |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for Ireland. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, towns, villages and countryside together: Census 2022 Small Areas added up, Garda station areas weighted by the people living in them, or the CSO’s own county table. It is ranked against Ireland’s other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for Ireland. Quarters are of people, not towns, so a county with a city isn’t marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the county’s standing among Ireland’s 26 counties: the two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, health 14, jobs and income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, hazards 4 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it can’t show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Schools aren’t graded: the Education Act 1998 (s.53) rules out school league tables. No life expectancy is published by county, so health uses age-standardised measures instead. The county figure for hazards is radon: the towns’ flood measure needs LiDAR, which covers towns, not the countryside. The RTB publishes no rent for the State as a whole, so rents are set beside the middle county. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Irish towns against each other only, run #54 of 3 November 2026 · County figures: Census 2022 Small Areas added up by county; the CSO’s county tables (prices, incomes, mortality, population); Garda station-area crime rates (CSO); RTB rents; the EPA radon map. 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).