Photo: Arnold Unterholzner from Schlanders, Italy · CC BY 2.07.7% of homes are holiday homes, more than in 98% of Irish towns
Against a figure of 17% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Salthill comes in at 25%. The neighbourhood counted 5,445 residents and 2,078 households at the 2022 Census. Here, 27% of households are parents with children. The median age here is 40.4, higher than in 80% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Salthill
Fewer people than before
Salthill went from about 5,730 people in 2016 to 5,445 in 2022, −5%: slower growth than in 99% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Many older residents
20% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 91% of Irish towns; 6% are 80 or over, and 29% of households are one person living alone. Ages ↓
A neighbourhood of flats
39% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 88% of Irish towns. 17% have no car. Homes & cars ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
From 2016 to 2022, 99% of Irish towns grew faster than Salthill: −5%
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.
20% of Salthill is 65 or over, a higher share than 91% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 25–29, with 8.3% of residents, 1.4 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Across Salthill, 13% of residents are aged 15 to 24. On average, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Salthill, 40.4. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 83 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Galway 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Students among residents 15 and over make up 13% in Salthill, more than in 81% 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
The figure for residents who moved in within the year is 14% in Salthill and 7.5% across Ireland’s towns. By way of comparison, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Above 82% of Irish towns: 12% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
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 one-person households is 29%, against 24% across Ireland’s towns. For comparison, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns. Households here average 2.4 people each.
More flats than 88% of Irish towns: 39% of households in Salthill
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
Home broadband covers 94% of households, while 4.8% go without the internet (typical: 7.6%). Households in flats make up 12% across Ireland’s towns. For Salthill, the census puts households without a car or van at 17%.
Median gross household income: €65,720 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €65,720 sits 9% above Ireland (€60,120). County median: €59,640 (Co. Galway).
Residents born outside Ireland: 25%, a higher share than 61% 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.
Another language is spoken at home by 15%, most often French (1.7%); 1.6% speak English not well or not at all. Few places have as many residents with another country’s citizenship: 17% here, more than in 61% of Irish towns. For residents born outside Ireland, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 22%.
Daily speakers of Irish outside education: 3.8%, a higher 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: 2,497 residents, 52% of those aged 3 and over. The highest share in Co. Galway belongs to Knocknacarra (4.5%). For comparison, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of residents who said they are Catholic than 74% of Irish towns, at 65%
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 Salthill · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
After White Irish, the most common groups are Other White (12%), Other, including mixed (2.8%) and Black or Black Irish (2.6%). Elsewhere, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. Where 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns, Salthill has 79%.
Salthill ranks above 87% of Irish towns on unpaid carers: 6.4%
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.
55% of Salthill’s residents 15 and over are single and 36% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns. Measured more widely, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
A higher share of adults with a degree or higher than 95% of Irish towns, at 64%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Across Ireland’s towns, one in ten adults finished at primary level or earlier; in Salthill, 3.7%, and 32% hold a postgraduate qualification. As a reference point, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
In its size band (4,899 to 6,051), the 11th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At the ends of the range sit Gillabbey (25.6), the youngest, and Sutton (45.4), the oldest. Nearest to Salthill in age: Glounthaune (40.1), Tipperary (40.3), Clonakilty (40.5) and Garryowen (40.9).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Salthill
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salthill | 5,445 | — | 40.4 | 20% | 27% |
| Taylor's Hill | 3,141 | 0.9 km | 31.8 | 14% | 36% |
| Claddagh | 2,755 | 1.4 km | 38.9 | 20% | 23% |
| Newcastle | 4,032 | 1.8 km | 42.5 | 28% | 24% |
| Rahoon | 3,486 | 2.2 km | 35.2 | 11% | 39% |
| Knocknacarra | 18,398 | 2.2 km | 38 | 11% | 44% |
| Woodquay and Nuns Island | 4,948 | 2.2 km | 32.1 | 11% | 11% |
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.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Neighbourhood figures are TownRatings sums of CSO Small Areas
Questions about Salthill’s residents
What is the population of Salthill?
Salthill had 5,445 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 5% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Salthill?
The median age is 40.4, older than 80% of Irish towns. 16% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Salthill?
52% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (2,497 people), and 3.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Salthill?
79% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 25% were born abroad and 17% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Salthill?
65% are Catholic, 25% have no religion and 9.8% another religion; 10% didn’t say.
Is Salthill good for families?
27% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 16% of residents are under 18. Schools near Salthill are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Salthill?
Median gross household income in Salthill was €65,720 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 · Neighbourhood figures are TownRatings sums of CSO Small Areas. 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).