Photo: J. Patrick Fischer · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Kenmare are lower than in 90% of Irish towns
Out of work at the 2022 census: 10% of the labour force in Kenmare (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). On jobs and income together, Kenmare grades B−, #3 of 5 in County Kerry. Getting to work, school or college from Kenmare takes 21 minutes on average, and 8.6% take an hour or more.
What the numbers say about work in Kenmare
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Kenmare had €40,383 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 21 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 8.6% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
On jobs and income, Kenmare grades B−
Its four measures together rank it better than 48% of Irish towns, #3 of 5 in County Kerry.
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.
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.
Median household income in Kenmare is €40,383
That puts Kenmare 16% below the median for County Kerry as a whole, €48,320. 3 of the county’s 4 other towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €36,033. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 49% above Kenmare’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
At 21 minutes, trips from Kenmare are shorter than in the middle of Irish towns
In County Kerry, 1 of 5 towns counted average a shorter trip. Trips of under 15 minutes are 64% of the total, against 53% in the middle of County Kerry.
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.
In Kenmare, 23% of residents in work are in commerce and trade
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 20% (against 25% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 2.7%.
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.
The share in work in Kenmare: 68% of 15-to-64s
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Kerry, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 2.5% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 42% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 53% 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.
Kenmare gets to work without a car for 21% of commuters
The middle of Irish towns has 6% going by bus; here it is 0.9%. The middle of County Kerry has 8%; here, 13% work mainly from home. By car or van: 66% of commuters, next to 71% in the middle of County Kerry.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
How the count signing on in County Kerry has moved
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. Kenmare office saw its highest month in February 2023: 526 people signing on, 124% 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.
People signing on each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
How Kenmare spends its days: 53% of adults in work
Compared with Irish towns, 8.2% are full-time students (against 11%) and 20% are retired (against 15%).
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
Getting around Kenmare on foot earns B−
Better than 45% of Irish towns on two measures together, #3 of 5 in County Kerry.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 37%.
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.
19th of 50: where Kenmare ranks among Irish towns of 2,500 to 3,500
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annacotty County Limerick | 3,398 | 71% | 6% | €90K | A+ |
| 2 | Grange Upper County Waterford | 2,510 | 71% | 7.4% | €65K | A |
| 3 | Blarney County Cork | 2,779 | 73% | 5.4% | €67K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Castleisland County Kerry | 2,536 | 67% | 11% | €46K | B− |
| 18 | Kingscourt County Cavan | 2,955 | 66% | 9.4% | €55K | B− |
| 19 | Kenmare County Kerry | 2,566 | 68% | 10% | €40K | B− |
| 20 | Bantry County Cork | 2,929 | 67% | 10% | €38K | B− |
| 21 | Ballinrobe County Mayo | 3,148 | 67% | 11% | €50K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Mayfield County Cork | 2,846 | 49% | 20% | €38K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Kenmare, and others in County Kerry.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Kenmare, 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 Kenmare
What is the unemployment rate in Kenmare?
10% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 2.5% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Kenmare a good place to find work?
Kenmare earns a B− for jobs and income, better than 48% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #3 of 5 in County Kerry.
How do people in Kenmare get to work?
66% of commuters go by car or van, 18% walk, 1.9% cycle and 1.2% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 13% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Kenmare?
Trips to work, school or college take 21 minutes on average; 8.6% take an hour or more and 64% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Kenmare?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Kenmare’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Kenmare 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 Kenmare 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).