Photo: Tdr112 · CC BY-SA 4.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Carna than in 71% of Irish towns
The bus or train carries 17% of its commuters. 13% of the labour force in Carna was out of work at the 2022 census, next to 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. Carna grades C− for jobs and income, #101 of 116 in County Dublin.
Where Carna stands out on work
Work near the middle
64% of people aged 15 to 64 in Carna had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
13% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 5% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Jobs & income in Carna: graded C−
Taken together, its four measures make it better than 23% of Irish towns, #101 of 116 in County Dublin.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the unemployment rate.
Graded against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more; a shorter trip and less unemployment count in its favor.
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.
How many in Carna have a job: 64% of 15-to-64s
Of the 115 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Dublin, 13 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
5% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Among the unemployed, 66% had been out of work that long. Of all residents aged 15 and over, retirees and students among them, 52% 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.
What residents of Carna work in
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 25% (against 25% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 0%.
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.
Median household income: €50,830 a year
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 60% of Irish towns.
Carna’s median is 29% below County Dublin’s (€71,123). Of the county’s 115 other towns of 2,500 or more, 107 have a higher median. After tax, the median is €46,520. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 18% above Carna’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
33% of commuters in Carna go on foot, by bike or by public transport
5.4% cycle to work, against 2.4% in the middle of Irish towns. Against 52% in the middle of County Dublin, 62% go by car or van. The middle of Irish towns has 11% working mainly from home; here it is 4.9%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Getting to work or school from Carna takes about as long as in the middle of Irish towns
The middle of County Dublin has 59% of trips at 15 to 44 minutes; here it is 63%, the commonest length. For the middle of County Dublin, the average trip is 31.1 minutes. 10 of the 116 towns of County Dublin counted have a shorter average trip. 24% of trips take under 15 minutes, about the same as in the middle of County Dublin. 6.9% of trips take an hour or more, against 9.6% in the middle of County Dublin.
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.
County Dublin on the Live Register since 2019
48,940 people were signing on in County Dublin in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 rose by 5%. It has been above its 2019 average for the last 10 months. Its lowest month since 2019 was February 2022, at 40,783. County Dublin: signing on peaked in July 2026 at 51,932, 11% 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).
How Carna spends its days: 52% of adults in work
Compared with Irish towns, 8.1% are full-time students (against 11%) and 9.1% 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.
Carna grades A for walkability
Better than 90% of Irish towns on two measures together, #33 of 116 in County Dublin.
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.
Out of 66 Irish towns of 2,500 to 3,900, Carna comes 52nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annacotty County Limerick | 3,398 | 71% | 6% | €90K | A+ |
| 2 | Grange Upper County Waterford | 2,510 | 71% | 7.4% | €65K | A |
| 3 | Riverstown County Cork | 3,664 | 70% | 5.1% | €83K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Ballybrack County Dublin | 2,872 | 69% | 7% | €70K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 42 | Ballyfermot County Dublin | 3,632 | 66% | 11% | €49K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Limerick City Centre County Limerick | 3,434 | 67% | 15% | €41K | C |
| 51 | Edenmore County Dublin | 2,831 | 67% | 12% | €52K | C− |
| 52 | Carna County Dublin | 2,897 | 64% | 13% | €51K | C− |
| 53 | Decies County Dublin | 2,713 | 65% | 12% | €47K | C− |
| 54 | Athboy County Meath | 2,596 | 66% | 11% | €55K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 57 | Kylemore County Dublin | 2,557 | 64% | 12% | €49K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 66 | Mayfield County Cork | 2,846 | 49% | 20% | €38K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Carna, and others in County Dublin.
Carna and its neighbours: work and income
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carna | 64% | 13% | €51K | 28 min | C− | A |
| Cherry Orchard 0.5 km | 56% | 18% | €53K | 29.8 min | D− | B+ |
| Ballyfermot 0.6 km | 66% | 11% | €49K | 27 min | C | A |
| Kylemore 0.9 km | 64% | 12% | €49K | 28.8 min | C− | A |
| Decies 1.4 km | 65% | 12% | €47K | 27.2 min | C− | A |
| Palmerston 1.6 km | 65% | 10% | €63K | 28.8 min | C+ | A− |
| Chapelizod 1.7 km | 78% | 6.9% | €68K | 34.2 min | B+ | A− |
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 Carna, 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 Carna
What is the unemployment rate in Carna?
13% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 5% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Carna a good place to find work?
Carna earns a C− for jobs and income, better than 23% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #101 of 116 in County Dublin.
How do people in Carna get to work?
62% of commuters go by car or van, 9.8% walk, 5.4% cycle and 17% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 4.9% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Carna?
Trips to work, school or college take 28 minutes on average; 6.9% take an hour or more and 24% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Carna?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Carna’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Carna 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 Carna 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).