Photo: Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0Among the 40 Irish towns closest in size, Rush records less crime per resident than 79%
The Gardaí recorded 287 cases of theft in Rush a year on average from 2023 to 2025, a rate of 26.4 per 1,000 against a typical 17. The town’s overall Safety Grade is B (#25 of 116 in Co. Dublin): close to the middle of Irish towns, on incidents the Gardaí recorded in its station areas from 2023 to 2025. Annual rates stand at 4.6 violent incidents and 4.4 incidents of burglary and damage for every thousand residents, next to 5.6 and 6.6 in the typical town its size. Even so, the graded rate rose 6% from 2016 to 2025.
Incidents per 1,000 residents (Census 2022) a year, 2023–2025 average, in the Garda station areas residents live in. Homicide and sexual offences aren’t published by station, so no figure here includes them.
What stands out about safety in Rush
Less crime than many places its size
Among the 40 Irish towns closest in size, Rush ranks 9th, counting from the least graded crime: lower than Tramore, Trim and Donabate, higher than Foxrock, Ratoath and Monkstown. Towns its size ↓
Below the Irish rate
The station areas Rush’s residents live in record 9 incidents of violence, burglary and damage per 1,000 residents a year (2023–2025), against 11.9 across Ireland: 24% below the national rate. Safety Grade ↓
Theft: high for a town its size
Rush records 26.4 incidents of theft per 1,000 residents a year, against 17 in the typical town among Irish towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Written from CSO’s recorded crime by Garda station (CJA11) and Census 2022. Figures are incidents the Gardaí recorded, not convictions.
The B for Rush, and how it is built
How sure: The rate comes from Garda station areas, shared out by where residents live, not from crime inside the town’s own boundary.
The grade counts assaults and harassment, kidnapping, robbery, weapons offences, burglary and damage per resident, averaged over three years, and places the town among every Irish town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more (the five city totals aren’t in it).
Its place: #25 of 116 in Co. Dublin and #93 of 320 Irish towns.
Violent crime, burglary and damage the Gardaí recorded per resident, 2023–2025, against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more.
What was recorded, by type
Against the typical town its size, Rush runs highest on theft (26.4 per 1,000 against 17). Damage to property and public order offences sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theft | not graded | 26.4 | 17 |
| Road and traffic offences | not graded | 7.4 | 9.1 |
| Assaults and harassment | Violent | 3.9 | 4.6 |
| Damage to property | Burglary & damage | 3.4 | 4.7 |
| Dangerous or negligent acts | not graded | 2.6 | 4.6 |
| Public order offences | not graded | 2.5 | 5.2 |
| Drug offences | not graded | 2.3 | 3 |
| Burglary | Burglary & damage | 1 | 1.9 |
| Offences against justice | not graded | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Weapons and explosives | Violent | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Other offences | not graded | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Robbery, extortion and hijacking | Violent | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Kidnapping | Violent | 0 | 0 |
The groups are CSO’s. Dangerous or negligent acts, drug offences, road and traffic offences and offences against justice count Garda checks more than victims; they, theft, public order and other offences are shown but not graded. Homicide and sexual offences aren’t published by station; fraud is left out.
Per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among Irish towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
9th of 40: Rush among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Burglary & damage | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portmarnock Dublin | 10,750 | 2.4 | 3.6 | A |
| 2 | Firhouse Dublin | 12,254 | 2.6 | 4.2 | A− |
| 3 | Skerries Dublin | 10,743 | 3.3 | 3.6 | A− |
| 4 | Churchtown Dublin | 10,044 | 2.8 | 4.3 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 6 | Foxrock Dublin | 12,163 | 3.2 | 4.6 | B+ |
| 7 | Ratoath Meath | 10,077 | 3.7 | 4.2 | B+ |
| 8 | Monkstown Dublin | 9,831 | 3.3 | 4.9 | B+ |
| 9 | Rush Dublin | 10,875 | 4.6 | 4.4 | B |
| 10 | Tramore Waterford | 11,277 | 4.8 | 4.3 | B |
| 11 | Trim Meath | 9,563 | 5 | 4.3 | B− |
| 12 | Donabate Dublin | 9,669 | 4.5 | 4.9 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Summerhill Dublin | 11,911 | 24 | 20.6 | D− |
The 40 Irish towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500+ people closest in population; the city totals are left out. Graded crime: violent crime, burglary and damage.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, 2023 to 2025, counting from the least: towns ranked near Rush, and others in Co. Dublin.
Rush, year by year
Violent · per 1,000 residents
Burglary & damage · per 1,000 residents
Its highest year was 2019, at 10.1 per 1,000 residents, and its lowest 2020, at 7.9. Across Ireland the same rate went from 12 in 2016 to 11.6 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Violent | Burglary & damage | Graded | Ireland | All recorded crime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | 4.1 | 9 | 11.6 | 48.7 |
| 2024 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 8.2 | 12.1 | 48.2 |
| 2023 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 9.9 | 11.9 | 57.3 |
| 2022 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 9.7 | 11.6 | 47.8 |
| 2021 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 9.2 | 10.2 | 41.2 |
| 2020 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 7.9 | 10.6 | 33.3 |
| 2019 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 10.1 | 12.8 | 42.7 |
| 2018 | 3.1 | 6.1 | 9.2 | 12.4 | 43 |
| 2017 | 3.5 | 6 | 9.4 | 12.8 | 37.9 |
| 2016 | 2.5 | 6 | 8.5 | 12 | 31.5 |
CSO CJA11, recorded crime incidents by Garda station, 2016–2025, shared to the town by where its residents live. Every year is divided by the residents counted in 2022, so the line moves with recorded crime, not with population. CSO publishes recorded crime “under reservation”, its flag on the quality of Garda recording.
Violence, burglary and damage the Gardaí recorded each year in the station areas where Rush’s residents live, per 1,000 residents, against Ireland as a whole.
About 5 recorded violent incidents for each 1,000 residents, every year
Violence per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025
Burglary & damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 4 burglaries or acts of criminal damage, plus 26 thefts, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded incident.
Crime in the places around Rush
Rush records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 6 neighbours. Skerries, 6 km away, records 3.3 recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Rush’s 4.6.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three-year average. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Station areas, not the town’s boundary. Crime is published by Garda station. Each station’s incidents are divided by the people living in its area (Census 2022), and Rush takes the rates of the areas its residents live in, weighted by how many live in each.
- Checks are shown, not graded. Road traffic, dangerous driving, drug and justice offences mostly record Garda activity: one rural station can book thousands of camera detections. The grade leaves them out, with theft and public order, and counts violence, burglary and damage.
- Each year, and one average. CSO publishes crime by station once a year. The chart follows every year since 2016; the grade averages 2023, 2024 and 2025, because a small station area’s count swings from year to year. There are no months.
- No streets. No street- or ward-level crime is published in Ireland: the finest grain is the Garda station area.
Questions about safety in Rush
Is Rush safe?
The Gardaí recorded about 4.6 violent incidents and 4.4 burglaries or acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year in the station areas Rush’s residents live in, averaged over 2023–2025. That earns a B for safety: close to the middle of Irish towns.
What is the most common crime in Rush?
Theft: about 287 a year (2023–2025 average). Next came road and traffic offences (81) and assaults and harassment (43).
Is crime going up in Rush?
The recorded rate in the graded categories rose 6% from 2016 to 2025: 8.5 per 1,000 residents in 2016, 9 in 2025. The grade uses the three-year average, so one unusual year moves it less.
How does Rush compare with Ireland as a whole?
The station areas Rush’s residents live in record 9 incidents of violence, burglary and damage per 1,000 residents a year (2023–2025). Across Ireland the figure is 11.9.
Is Rush safer than the towns around it?
2 of the 6 neighbouring towns with figures record less violence, burglary and damage per resident than Rush (9 per 1,000 a year). The lowest is Malahide, at 6.
How sure is Rush’s Safety Grade?
The rate comes from Garda station areas, shared out by where residents live, not from crime inside the town’s own boundary.
Source: CSO, Recorded crime incidents by Garda station (CJA11), 2023–2025, and Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: CSO, Recorded crime incidents by Garda station (CJA11), 2023–2025 · CSO, Census 2022 Small Areas and the 2011 Garda sub-districts · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. 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).