A smaller share of shared households of unrelated adults than 99% of Irish towns: 1.1%
Set against 17% across Ireland’s towns, 5.8% of residents said they have no religion in Ballygar. Its 267 households held 660 residents at the 2022 Census. The share of one-person households stands at 31%. Half of the town’s residents are over 39.6, older than in 75% of Irish towns.
A ±0% change since 2016: slower than 91% 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.
Medians for comparison: +8% across Ireland’s towns; +7% across Co. Galway’s towns.
Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 90% of Irish towns: 10%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 40–44 than any other five-year age: 9.1% of residents. Set beside that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns. Few places have as many residents aged 65 and over: 17% here, more than in nearly three quarters of Irish towns. In Newcastle, the oldest of Co. Galway’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Galway 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
In Ballygar, 8.7% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer than in 82% of Irish towns
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
27% of Ballygar’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 18% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 6.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Ballygar households average 2.5 people, smaller than in 75% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Galway’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
The share of households of parents with children stands at 44%.
In Ballygar, 1.8% of homes are holiday homes, more than in 91% of Irish towns
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 81% of households; 16% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). The census found that 8.2% of households live in a flat or apartment in Ballygar. Elsewhere, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns.
€51,010 a year is the median household income here
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€51,010 a year before tax puts the median household 15% below Ireland (€60,120). County median: €59,640 (Co. Galway).
In Ballygar, 11% of residents are citizens of another country, fewer than in 70% of Irish towns
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 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
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.
The figure for residents born outside Ireland is 19% in Ballygar and 22% across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in Poland (9.1%) and in the UK (6.4%).
Daily speakers of Irish outside education: 0.3%, a lower share than 99% of Irish towns
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: 242 residents, 38% of those aged 3 and over. In Co. Galway, Knocknacarra has the highest share (4.5%). Against that, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
89% of residents said they are Catholic, a share 99% of Irish towns don’t reach
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: 74% of Ballygar · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (15%), Irish Traveller (8.3%) and Other, including mixed (1.4%). Against that, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. Nearly three quarters of residents describe themselves as White Irish, a lower share than in 63% of Irish towns.
Ballygar ranks above 99% of Irish towns on unpaid carers: 9.8%
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.
The figure for married residents 15 and over is 36% in Ballygar and 34% across Ireland’s towns. Measured more widely, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
In Ballygar, 27% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 74% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Primary level or earlier: 13%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. On average, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. Postgraduate: 8.1% of adults.
The places around Ballygar
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballygar | 660 | — | 39.6 | 17% | 44% |
| Roscommon | 6,555 | 15.0 km | 38.3 | 16% | 45% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Galway’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Galway’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 Ballygar’s residents
What is the population of Ballygar?
Ballygar had 660 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Ballygar?
The median age is 39.6. 23% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballygar?
38% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (242 people), and 0.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballygar?
74% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 19% were born abroad and 11% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballygar?
89% are Catholic, 5.8% have no religion and 5.5% another religion; 0.6% didn’t say.
Is Ballygar good for families?
44% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 23% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballygar are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballygar?
Median gross household income in Ballygar was €51,010 in 2022, against €59,640 across Co. Galway 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).