Photo: Robert Bone · CC BY-SA 2.09.7% of residents are aged 15 to 24, below 97% of Irish towns
Households in flats: 7.4%, below 77% of Irish towns. The 2022 Census put Headford’s population at 1,235, in 472 households. Census figures put residents who said they are Catholic at 76% locally. More one-person households than in 62% of Irish towns: 26%.
What stands out about the people of Headford
Growing faster than most
Headford went from about 1,010 people in 2016 to 1,235 in 2022, +22%: faster growth than in 92% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Since 2016, Headford has grown +22%, faster than 92% 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.
The median across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Galway’s towns +7%.
A median age of 38.2: Headford is older than 57% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 40–44: 10% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 13%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Galway 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
42% of residents belong to the professional, managerial and technical classes
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
Nothing unusual on students among residents 15 and over: 9.3%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. The census found that 7.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Headford.
2.6 people per household, fewer than in 62% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns: 3.8%. 44% of households are parents with children.
Only 12% of households have no car or van in Headford
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 86% of households; 9% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). Measured more widely, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns. Locally, 1.3% of homes are holiday homes.
€58,770 a year: where the middle household sits
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Headford’s households have a gross income above €58,770 a year and half below, close to the median for Ireland (€60,120). Co. Galway comes in at €59,640 at the median.
12% of residents are citizens of another country, fewer than in 66% 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 two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the UK (7.7%) and outside the EU and UK (4.8%). Across Ireland’s towns, 15% of residents are citizens of another country. Just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland (Ireland’s towns: 22%).
Irish speakers: 42% of Headford’s residents
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
The highest share in Co. Galway belongs to Knocknacarra (4.5%). Speakers of Irish: 470 residents, 42% of those aged 3 and over. Nothing unusual on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.3%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 62% of Irish towns: 15%
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 Headford · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White Irish, are Other White (14%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.8%) and Black or Black Irish (2.2%). For residents with no religion, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 17%. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish make up 79%, against 78% across Ireland’s towns.
Married residents 15 and over make up 37% in Headford, more than in 70% of Irish towns
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.
Unpaid carers make up 6.4%, against 5.4% across Ireland’s towns. By way of comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
38% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, more than in 56% of Irish towns
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 13% of adults; primary level or less for 8.6% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). For comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Of the 5 towns nearest Headford, 1 are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headford | 1,235 | — | 38.2 | 13% | 44% |
| Oughterard | 1,846 | 15.4 km | 42 | 17% | 46% |
| Maigh Cuilinn | 2,279 | 15.8 km | 38.1 | 13% | 51% |
| Tuam | 9,647 | 17.1 km | 38.1 | 13% | 41% |
| Baile Chláir | 1,632 | 17.6 km | 34.6 | 5.6% | 54% |
| Ballinrobe | 3,148 | 19.0 km | 37.6 | 13% | 43% |
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 Headford’s residents
What is the population of Headford?
Headford had 1,235 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 22% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Headford?
The median age is 38.2. 26% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Headford?
42% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (470 people), and 1.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Headford?
79% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 21% were born abroad and 12% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Headford?
76% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 8.4% another religion; 6.2% didn’t say.
Is Headford good for families?
44% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 26% of residents are under 18. Schools near Headford are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Headford?
Median gross household income in Headford was €58,770 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).