Photo: Laurel Lodged · CC BY-SA 4.0Castleknock has some of the highest household incomes of any Irish town
Unemployment in Castleknock stood at 5.9% at the 2022 census, next to 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. For jobs and income, Castleknock earns a grade of A, #7 of 116 in County Dublin. The bus or train carries 19% of its commuters.
Castleknock and work: the main findings
More people in work than most towns
77% of people aged 15 to 64 in Castleknock had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
5.9% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 1% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household in Castleknock had €109,590 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. CSO publishes no income figure for this place, so this one is our estimate from its electoral divisions. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 30.7 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 8.7% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Many work from home
20% of workers worked mainly from home on census day, against 11% in the middle of Irish towns. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Jobs and income in Castleknock earn A
Its four measures together rank it better than 94% of Irish towns, #7 of 116 in County Dublin.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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.
Working-age people in Castleknock: 77% have a job
Of the 115 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Dublin, 110 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
1% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 26% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Of all residents aged 15 and over, retirees and students among them, 60% 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.
How much households earn in Castleknock: €109,590
Before tax, 2022: higher than in 100% of Irish towns.
Castleknock’s median is 54% above County Dublin’s (€71,123). No other town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. After tax, the median is €82,340. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 45% below Castleknock’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
From Castleknock, work or school is 30.7 minutes away on average, over the middle of Irish towns
Most often, a trip takes 15 to 44 minutes: 57%, against 59% in the middle of County Dublin. 46 of the 116 towns of County Dublin counted have a shorter average trip. The middle of County Dublin has 23% of trips under 15 minutes; here it is 25%. 8.7% of trips take an hour or more, about the same as 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.
27% of commuters from Castleknock go without the car
Working mainly from home: 20% here, 11% in the middle of Irish towns. Public transport: 12% by bus and 7.2% by rail, against 6% and 0.9% in the middle of Irish towns. Walking takes 2% of commuters and cycling 5.8%, where the middle of Irish towns has 10% and 2.4%. By car or van: 53% of commuters, much as in the middle of County Dublin.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
The work of Castleknock’s residents, industry by industry
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 23% (against 25% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 0.3%.
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.
People signing on in County Dublin, against 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%. For 10 months in a row now, it has been over its 2019 average. Its lowest month since 2019 was February 2022, at 40,783. County Dublin saw its highest month in July 2026: 51,932 people signing on, 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 Castleknock spends its days: 60% of adults in work
Compared with Irish towns, 18% are retired (against 15%) and 1.8% 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.
Castleknock grades A− for walkability
Better than 84% of Irish towns on two measures together, #48 of 116 in County Dublin.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 87%.
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.
Castleknock is 9th of 102 Irish towns of 4,400 to 8,600 people for jobs and income
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballinlough County Cork | 5,435 | 74% | 4.8% | €72K | A+ |
| 2 | Carrigtwohill County Cork | 5,568 | 73% | 5.5% | €71K | A+ |
| 3 | Oranmore County Galway | 5,819 | 79% | 5.9% | €80K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Knockrea County Cork | 5,228 | 75% | 6.3% | €71K | A+ |
| 8 | Booterstown County Dublin | 8,505 | 71% | 4.8% | €94K | A |
| 9 | Castleknock County Dublin | 6,355 | 77% | 5.9% | €110K | A |
| 10 | Grand Canal Dock County Dublin | 8,320 | 77% | 7.7% | €94K | A |
| 11 | Frankfield and Grange County Cork | 7,687 | 71% | 5.7% | €82K | A |
| 12 | Ballyboden County Dublin | 5,246 | 73% | 4.8% | €90K | A |
| 13 | Rathcoole County Dublin | 5,792 | 78% | 5.7% | €78K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Kinsealy-Drinan County Dublin | 7,526 | 76% | 7% | €76K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 102 | Cherry Orchard County Dublin | 8,280 | 56% | 18% | €53K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Castleknock, and others in County Dublin.
Next to Castleknock: how nearby places compare
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castleknock | 77% | 5.9% | €110K | 30.7 min | A | A− |
| Ashtown 2.3 km | 76% | 5.4% | €83K | 32.7 min | A | A− |
| Carpenterstown 2.4 km | 73% | 5.4% | €98K | 32.5 min | A | B |
| Blanchardstown 2.6 km | 69% | 11% | €69K | 32.1 min | B− | A− |
| Finglas South 3 km | 64% | 13% | €50K | 29.2 min | C− | A |
| Chapelizod 3.3 km | 78% | 6.9% | €68K | 34.2 min | B+ | A− |
| Ballyfermot 3.5 km | 66% | 11% | €49K | 27 min | C | 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 Castleknock, 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 Castleknock
What is the unemployment rate in Castleknock?
5.9% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 1% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Castleknock a good place to find work?
Castleknock earns an A for jobs and income, better than 94% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #7 of 116 in County Dublin.
How do people in Castleknock get to work?
53% of commuters go by car or van, 2% walk, 5.8% cycle and 19% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 20% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Castleknock?
Trips to work, school or college take 30.7 minutes on average; 8.7% take an hour or more and 25% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Castleknock?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Castleknock’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Castleknock 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 Castleknock 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).