Photo: 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0A median age of 47.7: Howth is older than 99% of Irish towns
The figure for households without a car or van is 8.7% in Howth and 17% across Ireland’s towns. Compared with other places, shared households of unrelated adults are scarce here: 1.9%, fewer than in 96% of Irish towns. Census day 2022: 8,192 residents and 3,035 households here. The census found that nearly a quarter of residents said they have no religion locally.
What stands out about the people of Howth
Older than most towns
Half of Howth’s residents are under 47.7 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 26% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
About 630 residents (7.7%) give regular unpaid care, more than in 99% of Irish towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
+1% since 2016: slower than 86% 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.
Across Ireland’s towns, the typical town changed +8%; across Co. Dublin’s towns, +6%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 26%, a higher share than 99% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Little separates the share of residents aged 15 to 24 here, 12%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns. Against that, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.6% of residents.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Howth, 47.7. 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 larger share of students among residents 15 and over than 74% of Irish towns: 12%
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
Workers here lean to managers, directors and senior officials: 18%, against a typical 7.8%. Across Howth, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. As a yardstick, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Howth sits below 59% of Irish towns for households of parents with children (41%)
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.
The share of one-person households stands at 23%. The comparison figure for households of parents with children is 43% across Ireland’s towns. A household here has 2.7 people on average; across Ireland’s towns, 2.7.
A larger share of holiday homes than 90% of Irish towns: 1.6%
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
Broadband reaches 95% of households; 3.8% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). For holiday homes, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 0.2%. Households in flats: 11% of the total.
The middle household earns €86,130 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€86,130 a year before tax puts the median household 43% above Ireland (€60,120). Co. Dublin comes in at €71,120 at the median.
Fewer residents with another country’s citizenship than 86% of Irish towns: 8.3%
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 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
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.
Another language is spoken at home by 8.9%, most often French (1.6%); 0.8% speak English not well or not at all. Residents born outside Ireland are rarer here than in 74% of Irish towns. Across the comparison, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
Can speak Irish: 46% of Howth’s residents
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
Monkstown leads Co. Dublin with 2.5%. Higher than in two thirds of Irish towns: 1.3% of residents speak Irish daily outside education.
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 88%, a higher share than 91% of Irish towns
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: 88% of Howth · Co. Dublin’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who said they are Catholic is 71%; Howth has 67%. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as White Irish is 78% across Ireland’s towns. Besides White Irish, the main groups are Other White (8%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.7%) and Other, including mixed (1.5%).
A higher share of married residents 15 and over than 99% of Irish towns, at 46%
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.
Across Ireland’s towns, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care; in Howth, 7.7%. To put it in context, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher: 54%, a higher share than 84% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate qualifications are held by 23% of adults here, while 5.1% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Across Ireland’s towns, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher.
41 towns of 6,971 to 9,647 people: this is the 2nd oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Temple Bar (31.4) and the oldest Dalkey (50.3). Nearest to Howth in age: Donaghmede (43.8), Perrystown (45.1) and Dalkey (50.3).
No nearby town is as old as Howth
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howth | 8,192 | — | 47.7 | 26% | 41% |
| Sutton | 5,789 | 3.7 km | 45.4 | 26% | 41% |
| Baldoyle | 7,864 | 4.2 km | 40.9 | 17% | 43% |
| Raheny | 8,734 | 5.2 km | 42.8 | 22% | 39% |
| Clongriffin | 7,438 | 5.5 km | 33.7 | 6.8% | 44% |
| Donaghmede | 9,616 | 5.6 km | 43.8 | 23% | 41% |
| Portmarnock | 10,750 | 6.5 km | 41.2 | 21% | 45% |
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.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Neighbourhood figures are TownRatings sums of CSO Small Areas
Questions about Howth’s residents
What is the population of Howth?
Howth had 8,192 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 1% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Howth?
The median age is 47.7, older than 99% of Irish towns. 21% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Howth?
46% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (3,587 people), and 1.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Howth?
88% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 18% were born abroad and 8.3% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Howth?
67% are Catholic, 24% have no religion and 9.2% another religion; 2.5% didn’t say.
Is Howth good for families?
41% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near Howth are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Howth?
Median gross household income in Howth was €86,130 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 · Neighbourhood figures are TownRatings sums of CSO Small Areas. 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).