Photo: Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0A family town: 56% of households are parents with children
A household here has 3.1 people on average; across Ireland’s towns, 2.7. The census found that 5.9% of households live in a flat or apartment in Rush. On residents aged 15 to 24, Rush sits higher than just over four fifths of Irish towns: 14%. The 2022 Census put the town’s population at 10,875, in 3,479 households.
What stands out about the people of Rush
A town of families
44% of households are couples with children and 12% lone parents with children, more than in 93% of Irish towns; 22% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A +12% change since 2016: Rush grew faster than 74% 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 Co. Dublin’s towns the median is +6%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
Below 69% of Irish towns: 11% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 10–14: nearly one in ten residents. The median age in Rush is 37.1, lower than in 57% of Irish towns. In Dalkey, the oldest of Co. Dublin’s towns by this measure, it is 29%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Rush, 37.1. 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%.
Above 83% of Irish towns: 13% of residents 15 and over are students
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
Work here tilts toward administrative and secretarial, at 14% against a typical 9.8%. Lower than in 90% of Irish towns: 4.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. As a yardstick, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Only 15% of households are one person living alone in Rush
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.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 3.1%, Rush is behind just over four fifths of Irish towns on that count. One-person households make up 24% across Ireland’s towns.
Fewer car-free households than 81% of Irish towns: 8.7%
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
Where 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns, Rush has 1.3%. For households without a car or van, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 17%.
Households here have a median income of €73,600 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Households here have a median gross income of €73,600, 22% higher than across Ireland (€60,120). Countywide in Co. Dublin, the median is €71,120.
Fewer residents with another country’s citizenship than 64% of Irish towns: 12%
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.
Polish leads the languages spoken at home (3.1%), among the 18% who speak another language there; 2.2% speak English not well or not at all. As a yardstick, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. 19% of residents were born outside Ireland, a lower share than in 62% of Irish towns.
1.5% of Rush’s residents use Irish every day outside education
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
Speakers of Irish: 3,980 residents, 40% of those aged 3 and over. In Co. Dublin, Monkstown has the highest share (2.5%). The usual figure: 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 62% of Irish towns: 19%
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: 79% of Rush · Co. Dublin’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White Irish are Other White (13%), Black or Black Irish (4%) and Other, including mixed (1.9%). Against that, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White Irish are common here: 79%, more than in 56% of Irish towns. Residents who said they are Catholic: 71%, near enough the figure across Ireland’s towns.
37% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 73% of Irish towns don’t reach
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.
5.6% of residents give unpaid care. Across the comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Rush sits below 59% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (32%)
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
A postgraduate qualification is the highest level for 9.9% of adults; primary level or less for 8.5% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Across Ireland’s towns, adults with a degree or higher come to 36%.
Ranked by age, 16th youngest of 41 towns this size
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Summerhill (30.5) and the oldest Foxrock (44.7). Nearest to Rush in age: Kilmainham (36.7), Finglas South (37), Enniscorthy (37.5) and Glasnevin (37.7).
4 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Rush
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
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.
Questions about Rush’s residents
What is the population of Rush?
Rush had 10,875 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 12% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rush?
The median age is 37.1, younger than 57% of Irish towns. 27% are under 18 and 11% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rush?
40% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (3,980 people), and 1.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rush?
79% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 19% were born abroad and 12% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rush?
71% are Catholic, 19% have no religion and 9.9% another religion; 4.6% didn’t say.
Is Rush good for families?
56% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 27% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rush are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rush?
Median gross household income in Rush was €73,600 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. 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).