Photo: 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0Balbriggan: 55% of households are parents with children, above 91% of Irish towns
Residents aged 65 and over: 7.8%, below 88% of Irish towns. At the 2022 Census, 24,322 people lived in Balbriggan, in 8,147 households. Here, 18% of households are one person living alone. Lower than in 80% of Irish towns: 62% of residents said they are Catholic.
What stands out about the people of Balbriggan
A student town
13% of residents aged 15 and over are students, more than in 86% of Irish towns; Ireland’s towns 10%. 14% of residents are 15 to 24. Social class & newcomers ↓
A town of families
39% of households are couples with children and 16% lone parents with children, more than in 91% of Irish towns; 25% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A mix of backgrounds
40% of residents describe a background other than White Irish, more than in 91% of Irish towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (20%), Black or Black Irish (10%) and Asian or Asian Irish (5.3%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Balbriggan grew +11% from 2016 to 2022, faster than 68% 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. Dublin’s towns.
Balbriggan is younger than 81% of Irish towns: a median age of 34.9
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 40–44: one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 14% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Balbriggan, 34.9. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Dublin 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
A student town: 13% of residents 15 and over are students
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
5.7% of residents lived at another address a year before the Census, against 7.5% across Ireland’s towns. As a reference point, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Bigger households than 86% of Irish towns: 3 people each on average
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Dublin’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 3.6%, Balbriggan is behind 70% of Irish towns on that count.
In Balbriggan, 19% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 74% of Irish towns
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
92% have broadband at home and 5.9% no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). On average, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. Across Balbriggan, 0.1% of homes are holiday homes.
Median household income: €60,630 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 €60,630 sits close to Ireland (€60,120). That compares with €71,120 across Co. Dublin.
31% born outside Ireland, more than in 82% 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 40%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 40%
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.
A fifth of residents are citizens of another country (Ireland’s towns: 15%). The share of residents born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns is 22%. Another language is spoken at home by 34%, most often Polish (6.3%); 4% speak English not well or not at all.
35% of Balbriggan’s residents can speak Irish
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
Irish speakers number 7,706, or 35% of residents aged 3 and over. In Co. Dublin, Monkstown has the highest share (2.5%). On daily speakers of Irish outside education, 1.1% here is much the same as across Ireland’s towns.
Only 60% of residents describe themselves as White Irish in Balbriggan
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: 60% of Balbriggan · Co. Dublin’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Census figures put residents with no religion at 16% in Balbriggan. To put it in context, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
Half of adults have never married
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 are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 5%. Married residents 15 and over: just over a third of the total.
30% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 66% 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 Balbriggan, 9.1%, and 9.6% hold a postgraduate qualification. To put it in context, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. Students still in education make up 18% of residents 15 and over.
The 9th youngest of 41 towns of 18,239 to 27,923 people
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Ages run from 32.4 in Jobstown to 42.9 in Beaumont. Nearest to Balbriggan in age: Clonsilla (34.3), Dolphins Barn (34.6), Mulhuddart (35.6) and Lucan (35.7).
Balbriggan is younger than 5 of its 6 nearest neighbours
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balbriggan | 24,322 | — | 34.9 | 7.8% | 55% |
| Balrothery | 2,282 | 2.7 km | 38.4 | 10% | 59% |
| Stamullen | 3,720 | 5.4 km | 34.4 | 5.3% | 63% |
| Skerries | 10,743 | 6.1 km | 40.7 | 16% | 52% |
| Lusk | 8,806 | 9.6 km | 35.3 | 6.6% | 59% |
| Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney | 15,642 | 11.1 km | 36.8 | 10% | 53% |
| Rush | 10,875 | 11.4 km | 37.1 | 11% | 56% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Dublin’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Dublin’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 Balbriggan’s residents
What is the population of Balbriggan?
Balbriggan had 24,322 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 11% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Balbriggan?
The median age is 34.9, younger than 81% of Irish towns. 31% are under 18 and 7.8% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Balbriggan?
35% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (7,706 people), and 1.1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Balbriggan?
60% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 31% were born abroad and 20% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Balbriggan?
62% are Catholic, 16% have no religion and 22% another religion; 6.1% didn’t say.
Is Balbriggan good for families?
55% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 31% of residents are under 18. Schools near Balbriggan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Balbriggan?
Median gross household income in Balbriggan was €60,630 in 2022, against €71,120 across Co. Dublin 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).