#1Castleisland
2,536 peopleScore 66.5·#11 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: safety A−, cost of living A−·lowest: hazard risk C+
Castleisland, #1 on this list · Photo: Jonathan Thacker (CC BY-SA 2.0)Kerry · 2026
Best places to live in County Kerry
A− or better goes to 2 towns on the list. From first to last on the list, scores fall from 66.5 to 35.5. Of 5 ranked towns in County Kerry, Castleisland heads the list, #11 of 320 nationally. Kenmare is second on the list, graded A−.
The overall score, sorted within the county; the letter compares each town with every town in Ireland of 2,500+, and its national rank sits beside it. How grades work
#1A+
#2Kenmare
2,566 peopleScore 60.4·#59 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: safety A, hazard risk A−·lowest: cost of living C+
#3Killarney
14,412 peopleScore 49.2·#152 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: health A−, jobs & income B+·lowest: cost of living C−
All 5 towns, ranked
By overall score against Irish towns; ranks are within the county, and each national rank links to the national list.
#TownScoreGrade · national rankWhat drives it
1Castleisland2,536 people66.5top 3.3%A+#11 of 320 nationallyStrongest: safety A−, cost of living A−·lowest: hazard risk C+
2Kenmare2,566 people60.4top 18.2%A−#59 of 320 nationallyStrongest: safety A, hazard risk A−·lowest: cost of living C+
3Killarney14,412 people49.2top 47.3%B−#152 of 320 nationallyStrongest: health A−, jobs & income B+·lowest: cost of living C−
4Listowel4,794 people43.1bottom 35.1%C+#208 of 320 nationallyStrongest: cost of living B+, hazard risk B+·lowest: jobs & income D
5Tralee26,079 people35.5bottom 17.9%C−#263 of 320 nationallyStrongest: cost of living B, walkability C+·lowest: hazard risk D
Quick answers
Questions people ask
How are these towns ranked?
By the overall grade, which blends six graded subjects (safety, cost of living, health, jobs & income, walkability and hazard risk) from public data, each comparing a town with every town in Ireland of 1,000 or more. The rank is among the towns of 2,500 or more in County Kerry, where five or more have an overall grade.
Why isn’t my town on this list?
The list covers places of 2,500 or more with an overall grade. Smaller places, and towns missing figures the overall grade needs, show their grades on their own pages; every town is listed on the County Kerry page.
County by county
Best places to live, county by county
Photos: Castleisland, Jonathan Thacker (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Kenmare, J. Patrick Fischer (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Killarney, Ian S (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Irish towns against each other only, run #71 of 9 November 2026. 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).