Photo: Stephen Elwyn RODDICK · CC BY-SA 2.0Skerries’ household incomes are higher than in 83% of Irish towns
Unemployment in Skerries stood at 6.1% at the 2022 census (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). For jobs and income, Skerries earns a grade of B+, #59 of 116 in County Dublin. From Skerries, trips to work, school or college average 34.3 minutes, with 20% taking an hour or more.
What stands out about work in Skerries
Less unemployment than most towns
6.1% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 1.7% 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 Skerries had €76,521 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 34.3 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 20% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Many work from home
18% 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.
Skerries earns B+ for jobs and income
Better than 67% of Irish towns once its four measures are combined, #59 of 116 in County Dublin.
Its strongest measure is the unemployment rate; 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.
Jobs for 70% of people aged 15 to 64 in Skerries
Of the 115 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Dublin, 48 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
1.7% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Among the unemployed, 46% had been out of work that long. Of all residents aged 15 and over, retirees and students among them, 56% 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.
Before tax, the median household in Skerries has €76,521
Skerries’s median is 8% above County Dublin’s (€71,123). 46 of the county’s 115 other towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. After tax, the median is €62,834. The State median is €60,123, 21% below Skerries’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Getting to work or school from Skerries takes more time than in the middle of Irish towns
Of the 116 towns of County Dublin counted, 109 have a shorter average trip. Under 15 minutes: 38% of trips, next to 23% in the middle of County Dublin. In the middle of County Dublin, the trip averages 31.1 minutes.
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.
Out of the car: 28% of Skerries’ commuters
The middle of Irish towns has 10% walking and 2.4% cycling; here it is 5.8% and 1.1%. By rail: 17% of commuters, well above the 6.8% in the middle of County Dublin. In the middle of County Dublin, 52% drive to work; here it is 54%. The middle of Irish towns has 11% working mainly from home; here it is 18%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Where Skerries’ residents work, by industry
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 27% (against 25% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 0.5%.
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.
Signing on in County Dublin, against the 2019 level
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).
In work, studying or retired: 56% of Skerries’ adults work
Compared with Irish towns, 19% are retired (against 15%) and 2.9% 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.
Skerries grades B+ for walkability
Better than 67% of Irish towns on two measures together, #95 of 116 in County Dublin.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 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.
Out of 88 Irish towns of 7,500 to 14,500, Skerries comes 38th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballsbridge County Dublin | 12,743 | 80% | 5.2% | €99K | A+ |
| 2 | Grantstown and Ballinakill County Waterford | 9,571 | 72% | 6% | €74K | A+ |
| 3 | Terenure County Dublin | 10,391 | 78% | 4.7% | €87K | A+ |
| 4 | Booterstown County Dublin | 8,505 | 71% | 4.8% | €94K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Baldoyle County Dublin | 7,864 | 72% | 6.4% | €69K | B+ |
| 37 | Mahon County Cork | 13,892 | 67% | 8.5% | €62K | B+ |
| 38 | Skerries County Dublin | 10,743 | 70% | 6.1% | €77K | B+ |
| 39 | Ballygall County Dublin | 11,704 | 71% | 7.7% | €61K | B+ |
| 40 | Clonskeagh County Dublin | 14,142 | 51% | 5.9% | €77K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 88 | Summerhill County Dublin | 11,911 | 60% | 15% | €45K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Skerries, and others in County Dublin.
The work picture around Skerries
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skerries | 70% | 6.1% | €77K | 34.3 min | B+ | B+ |
| Balrothery 4.5 km | 68% | 6.3% | €68K | 29.9 min | B+ | C |
| Rush 6 km | 69% | 7.2% | €74K | 33.7 min | B | B− |
| Balbriggan 6.1 km | 64% | 11% | €61K | 32.4 min | C | B |
| Lusk 6.8 km | 70% | 7% | €79K | 31.2 min | B+ | B+ |
| Portrane 8.9 km | 64% | 7.5% | €89K | 33 min | B− | C |
| Donabate 10 km | 71% | 6.1% | €96K | 34 min | A− | 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 Skerries, 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 Skerries
What is the unemployment rate in Skerries?
6.1% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 1.7% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Skerries a good place to find work?
Skerries earns a B+ for jobs and income, better than 67% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #59 of 116 in County Dublin.
How do people in Skerries get to work?
54% of commuters go by car or van, 5.8% walk, 1.1% cycle and 21% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 18% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Skerries?
Trips to work, school or college take 34.3 minutes on average; 20% take an hour or more and 38% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Skerries?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Skerries’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Skerries 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 Skerries 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).