Photo: jwd · CC BY-SA 2.0Earning a living in Oldtown
The 2022 census put unemployment in Oldtown at 3.8% (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). An hour or more is the trip for 12% of travellers from Oldtown; the average is 30.8 minutes. No Jobs & income Grade is given to Oldtown: it has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts.
Where Oldtown stands out on work
Less unemployment than most towns
3.8% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 1.5% 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 Oldtown had €78,720 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 30.8 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 12% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Why Oldtown has no Jobs & income Grade
Oldtown has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts. The figures on this page are still its own.
The share in work in Oldtown: 67% of 15-to-64s
Of the 116 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Dublin, 25 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 1.5% of people aged 15 and over. Put another way, 65% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 58% 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.
Median household income in Oldtown is €78,720
Before tax, 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760.
That puts Oldtown 11% above the median for County Dublin as a whole, €71,123. 38 of the county’s 116 towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €65,240. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 24% below Oldtown’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Against the middle of Irish towns, Oldtown has the longer trip to work or school
49 of the 116 towns of County Dublin counted have a shorter average trip. Short trips of under 15 minutes make up 26%, where the middle of County Dublin has 23%. 57% of trips take 15 to 44 minutes, where the middle of County Dublin has 59%.
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.
The work of Oldtown’s residents, industry by industry
Professional services, health and education is the second-largest at 19%, against 25% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 0.9%.
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.
7.8% of Oldtown’s trips to work are on foot, by bike or public transport
78% of commuters go by car or van. Against 11% in the middle of Irish towns, 13% work mainly from home. By bus: 2.7% of commuters, next to 6% in the middle of Irish towns. On foot 4.1%, by bike 0.5%: the middle of Irish towns has 10% and 2.4%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Signing on in County Dublin: the count since 2019
48,940 people were signing on in County Dublin in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count 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).
What adults in Oldtown do: 58% are in work
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
Shops, schools and services on foot in Oldtown
Not graded: the Walkability grade starts at 1,000 residents.
Of the everyday places, a food shop is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (0%).
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.
The places around Oldtown, side by side
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oldtown | 67% | 3.8% | €79K | 30.8 min | — | — |
| Ashbourne 5.6 km | 74% | 6.6% | €78K | 29.2 min | A | B− |
| Swords 8.9 km | 74% | 7% | €77K | 31.1 min | A− | B+ |
| Ratoath 9.8 km | 70% | 6% | €96K | 32.4 min | A− | C+ |
| Lusk 9.8 km | 70% | 7% | €79K | 31.2 min | B+ | B+ |
| Balrothery 11.3 km | 68% | 6.3% | €68K | 29.9 min | B+ | C |
| Kinsealy-Drinan 11.4 km | 76% | 7% | €76K | 29.6 min | A | B |
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 Oldtown, 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 Oldtown
What is the unemployment rate in Oldtown?
3.8% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 1.5% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
How do people in Oldtown get to work?
78% of commuters go by car or van, 4.1% walk, 0.5% cycle and 3.2% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 13% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Oldtown?
Trips to work, school or college take 30.8 minutes on average; 12% take an hour or more and 26% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Oldtown?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Oldtown’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Oldtown 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 Oldtown travel and how long their trips take.
Sources: CSO Census 2022 SAPS · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · CSO Live Register (LRM07) · OpenStreetMap (ODbL). 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).