Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Ballybunion has lower household incomes than 97% of Irish towns
Ballybunion grades D− for jobs and income. Out of work at the 2022 census: 14% of the labour force in Ballybunion, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. Trips to work, school or college from Ballybunion take 25.9 minutes on average; for 9.5%, it takes an hour or more.
What the numbers say about work in Ballybunion
Fewer people in work than most towns
63% of people aged 15 to 64 in Ballybunion had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
14% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 3.8% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Ballybunion had €35,373 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Jobs & income in Ballybunion: graded D−
On four measures together, it is better than 5% of Irish towns.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
Graded against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more; a shorter trip and less unemployment count in its favor.
Ranks start at 2,500 residents, so this grade has no rank.
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.
In Ballybunion, 63% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Kerry, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 3.8% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 54% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 45% 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.
Median household income in Ballybunion is €35,373
That puts Ballybunion 27% below the median for County Kerry as a whole, €48,320. Every town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. Net of tax, it is €32,684. The State median is €60,123, 70% above Ballybunion’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
In Ballybunion, 24% of residents in work are in professional services, health and education
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 23% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 2.9%.
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.
Not by car: 15% of Ballybunion’s commuters walk, cycle or ride the bus or train
Against 8% in the middle of County Kerry, 12% work mainly from home here. In the middle of County Kerry, 71% drive to work; here it is 73%. The middle of Irish towns has 6% going by bus; here it is 0.7%. Against 10% and 2.4% in the middle of Irish towns, 13% walk and 0.9% cycle.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
The trip from Ballybunion to work or school is a typical one for Irish towns
Of the 5 towns of County Kerry counted, 5 have a shorter average trip. The middle of County Kerry has 53% of trips under 15 minutes; here it is 47%. The middle of County Kerry averages 21.7 minutes a trip.
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.
How many sign on in County Kerry: the count since 2019
4,870 people were signing on in County Kerry in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count fell by 7%. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 30 months. County Kerry: signing on peaked in April 2020 at 8,848, 26% 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).
Retirement is the main occupation for 25% of adults in Ballybunion
Compared with Irish towns, 7.4% are full-time students (against 11%), 45% are in work (against 57%) and 7.8% 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.
Ballybunion on foot: a C− grade
Better than 24% of Irish towns on two measures together.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a pharmacy: 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.
How Ballybunion compares with the places nearby
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballybunion | 63% | 14% | €35K | 25.9 min | D− | C− |
| Listowel 14.6 km | 61% | 14% | €40K | 22.3 min | D | C− |
| Kilkee 18.6 km | 59% | 18% | €29K | 24.3 min | D− | C+ |
| Kilrush 18.8 km | 56% | 20% | €34K | 20.6 min | D | B |
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 Ballybunion, 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 Ballybunion
What is the unemployment rate in Ballybunion?
14% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3.8% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Ballybunion a good place to find work?
Ballybunion earns a D− for jobs and income, better than 5% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Ballybunion get to work?
73% of commuters go by car or van, 13% walk, 0.9% cycle and 0.7% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 12% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Ballybunion?
Trips to work, school or college take 25.9 minutes on average; 9.5% take an hour or more and 47% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Ballybunion?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Ballybunion’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Ballybunion 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 Ballybunion 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).