Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The neighbourhood has 12,816 residents and lies in Dublin. It has 13 buildings on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Blackrock does the important things well, at a cost. Health is a strength: bad health runs at 54 and disability at 91 per 100 expected for its ages. The neighbourhood grades A overall, better than 91% of Irish towns, and ranks #9 of 116 in Co. Dublin. Homes are dear: a median €785,000 buys a home here, 8.1 years of what the median household earns.
Figures: health, CSO Census 2022 · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO.
The 3 things Blackrock does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Blackrock with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
The record adds 6 archaeological sites.
Homes built before 1919: 13%, against 3% across Irish towns.
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Blackrock. Best known first.
MuseumJames Joyce Museum3.6 km outside town, to the east · 40K visitors a year
CastleManderley Castle4.9 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumNational Maritime Museum of Ireland2.4 km outside town, to the east
MuseumNational Print Museum4.8 km outside town, to the northwest
Castle · Office of Public WorksMonkstown Castle1.4 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Blackrock.
Owners make up 69% of households, near Co. Dublin’s towns (66%) and higher than Irish towns (61%). In 2010 the typical home in Blackrock sold for €453K; by 2025 it was €905K, 100% more. Social housing holds 5% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| New homes | €635,000 | 107 |
| Second-hand homes | €800,000 | 929 |
| The last 12 months | €927,500 | 350 |
| Housing | Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | €785K | €450K | €350K |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €2,633 | €2,063 | €1,606 |
| Households in social housing | 5% | 10% | 13% |
| Households owning their home | 69% | 66% | 61% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
66 schools lie within 3 km of Blackrock: 36 primary schools, 23 secondary schools and 7 special schools. 70% of the secondaries are single-sex, higher than both Co. Dublin’s towns (40%) and Irish towns (39%). Newpark Comprehensive School is the nearest secondary school, 0.8 km away.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| ST Olaf's National SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 591 | Catholic |
| Blackrock College BoysLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 1,041 | Catholic |
| Coláiste Eoin GaelcholáisteTeaches through IrishPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 517 | Catholic |
| St Josephs DEISIn the DEIS schemePrimary | Primary | 370 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-sex secondaries | 70% | 40% | 39% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 11% | 40% | 35% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +7% | +4% | +4% |
| Teach through Irish | 9% | 7% | 8% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Ireland publishes no school-by-school results, which is why these cards have no letters.
At the census, 1.1% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below Co. Dublin’s towns (1.9%) and Irish towns (2%) alike. Self-reported good health: 92% of Blackrock’s residents. Unpaid caring falls to 5.9% of the town’s residents.
| Census 2022 | Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad or very bad health | 1.1% | 1.9% | 2% |
| Good or very good health | 92% | 89% | 88% |
| Unpaid carers | 5.9% | 5.3% | 5.4% |
| With a disability | 21% | 22% | 22% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Short trips: 20% under 15 minutes, below Co. Dublin’s towns (23%) and Irish towns (31%) alike. Just over a fifth of workers did their job mainly from home at the census. Walking, cycling and public transport carried 36% of commuters at the census.
| Census 2022 | Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | €96,840 | €72,400 | €57,760 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.4% | 7.4% | 9.2% |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 20% | 23% | 31% |
| Average trip | 30.2 min | 31.1 min | 27.6 min |
CSO, Census 2022 travel to work, work and education · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · Live Register · Census day was 3 April 2022, with working from home still common; shares are of those who travelled.
Violence came to 2.4 per 1,000 residents a year, below Co. Dublin’s towns (5.3) and Irish towns (5.7) alike. Burglary and damage come to 4.3 per 1,000 residents a year. Damage to property topped the graded crimes in Blackrock (2023–2025). All told, 38 crimes per 1,000 residents are recorded each year.
Not in the gradeTheft, public order and offences found by Garda checks (drugs, road traffic, dangerous acts) are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence, burglary and damage.
| Per 1,000 a year | Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary & damage | 4.3 | 7.5 | 6.4 |
| Violent crime | 2.4 | 5.3 | 5.7 |
| All recorded crime | 38 | 59.2 | 54.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
794 mm of rain falls in a year, close to Co. Dublin’s towns (770 mm) and below Irish towns (937 mm). Across the year, Blackrock averages 10.5°C. In July, daytime highs in Blackrock average 19.8°C.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 3.3°C | 2.9°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 10.5°C | 10.3°C | 10.3°C |
| Rain a year | 794 mm | 770 mm | 937 mm |
| July high | 19.8°C | 19.9°C | 19.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
The sea makes up 30% of the area within 5 km, higher than both Co. Dublin’s towns (3.7%) and Irish towns (0%). There are 7 parks in Blackrock; together its green space comes to 47 ha. Among the protected sites near Blackrock is South Dublin Bay SAC.
| Outdoors | Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea within 5 km | 30% | 3.7% | 0% |
| Paths per km² of town | 4.7 km per km² | 5.5 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Woodland within 1 km | 1.4% | 2.3% | 2.7% |
| Near a park | 96% | 100% | 92% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
A typical November day reaches 11°C and drops to 5°C at night: the forecast for Blackrock is set against that. Around 2 mm of rain is due today, on a breeze of up to 31 km/h, with a low of 10°C. Plan indoor things for Tuesday, when about 6 mm of rain is forecast.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 3°C | 207 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 6°C | 168 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 12°C | 180 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 8°C | 239 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
13% of residents are 15 to 24, higher than both Co. Dublin’s towns (12%) and Irish towns (12%). Those 65 and older account for 17% of residents. Foreign-born residents make up 25% of the population.
Women make up 52.2% of Blackrock
6,686 women and 6,130 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 30% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 24% | 24% |
| 65+ | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 2.5% | 8.5% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 4.8% | 11% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 19% | 30% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 4.3% | 5.2% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 70% | 44% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Dublin and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
One council serves Blackrock: Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Local election turnout came to 45%. Fine Gael lead Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council with 16 of 40 seats, but no party has a majority: 21 are needed.
| Turnout | Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 45% | 42% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 59% | 57% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Homes from before 1919 make up 12.6% of the total, higher than both Co. Dublin’s towns (1.2%) and Irish towns (3.4%). 6 archaeological sites are on the record. Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 13 buildings in Blackrock, each of regional importance.
| Heritage | Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1919 | 12.6% | 1.2% | 3.4% |
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 10 | 9 | 48 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Seapoint, 1.8 km from Blackrock, is the closest bathing water; it was rated excellent in 2025. Landslides: none of Blackrock lies in a high-susceptibility zone. Few of its homes stand low beside water.
| Share of homes | Blackrock | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near the coast | under 0.1% | 0% | 0% |
| Low-lying near a river | 0% | 0% | 0.5% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 13 buildings in Blackrock, each of regional importance. Archaeologists have recorded 6 sites here.
No notable person born in Blackrock is on our list; these were born in the towns around it.
Samuel Beckett: Roger Pic, Public domain · Liam Ó Maonlaí: Biguana, CC BY 2.0
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackrock | 12,816 | — | A | D− | A− | A+ |
| Monkstown | 9,831 | 1.2 | A− | D− | B+ | A |
| Stillorgan | 18,212 | 1.6 | A | D− | B+ | A+ |
| Booterstown | 8,505 | 1.9 | A | D− | B | A+ |
| Sandyford | 8,844 | 2.8 | A− | D | B | A− |
| Foxrock | 12,163 | 2.9 | A− | D− | B+ | A+ |
| Sallynoggin | 13,245 | 3.2 | B+ | D | B− | B+ |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
Blackrock had 12,816 people at the 2022 census, up from 12,709 in 2016: 0.8% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Blackrock is 39.5, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
Neighbourhood in Dublin
12,816 people live in Blackrock, in the area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. TownRatings splits Dublin into neighbourhoods made from the CSO’s Electoral Divisions, named from Tailte Éireann’s gazetteer, so each has figures of its own.
Built from Tailte Éireann’s boundaries and the CSO’s Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0)
Sources: CSO, Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics (CC BY 4.0) · Tailte Éireann, Urban Areas and Electoral Divisions 2022 (CC BY 4.0) · TownRatings grades, run #544 (Irish towns only). 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).