Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Listowel are lower than in 91% of Irish towns
The 2022 census put unemployment in Listowel at 14% (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). Listowel grades D for jobs and income, #286 of 321 Irish towns. Trips to work, school or college from Listowel take 22.3 minutes on average; for 7.2%, it takes an hour or more.
What sets Listowel apart on jobs and income
Fewer people in work than most towns
61% of people aged 15 to 64 in Listowel 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; 4.5% 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 Listowel had €39,930 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 22.3 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 7.2% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Listowel: D
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.
In Listowel, 61% of people of working age are in work
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Kerry, 1 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
4.5% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 60% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Of all residents aged 15 and over, retirees and students among them, 46% 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.
Listowel at the median: €39,930 a household
Listowel’s median is 17% below County Kerry’s (€48,320). Every other town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. After tax, the median is €36,504. The State median is €60,123, 51% above Listowel’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Getting to work or school from Listowel takes less time than in the middle of Irish towns
Short trips of under 15 minutes make up 54%, where the middle of County Kerry has 53%. 4 of the 5 towns of County Kerry counted have a shorter average 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.
Where Listowel’s residents work, by industry
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 24% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 2.4%.
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.
Car-free commutes: 15% of workers in Listowel
On foot 13%, by bike 1.2%: the middle of Irish towns has 10% and 2.4%. The car or van carries most commuters: 76%. Against 11% in the middle of Irish towns, 8% work mainly from home. The bus takes 0.8% of commuters, against 6% in the middle of Irish towns.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
People signing on in County Kerry, against 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. Listowel office: signing on peaked in May 2020 at 1,427, 15% 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).
23% of Listowel’s adults have retired
Compared with Irish towns, 46% are in work (against 57%) and 7.4% 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.
The Walkability grade for Listowel: C−
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.
Listowel places 85th of 98 on jobs and income among Irish towns of 3,400 to 6,500
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballinlough County Cork | 5,435 | 74% | 4.8% | €72K | A+ |
| 2 | Carrigtwohill County Cork | 5,568 | 73% | 5.5% | €71K | A+ |
| 3 | Oranmore County Galway | 5,819 | 79% | 5.9% | €80K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 83 | Ardee County Louth | 5,478 | 63% | 12% | €47K | C− |
| 84 | Birr County Offaly | 4,726 | 61% | 15% | €43K | D |
| 85 | Listowel County Kerry | 4,794 | 61% | 14% | €40K | D |
| 86 | The Glen County Cork | 6,119 | 61% | 13% | €48K | D |
| 87 | Rathnew County Wicklow | 3,482 | 61% | 14% | €50K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 98 | Courtown County Wexford | 4,365 | 60% | 15% | €44K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Listowel, and others in County Kerry.
The places around Listowel, side by side
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listowel | 61% | 14% | €40K | 22.3 min | D | C− |
| Abbeyfeale 14.5 km | 60% | 16% | €40K | 27.3 min | D− | D |
| Ballybunion 14.6 km | 63% | 14% | €35K | 25.9 min | D− | C− |
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 Listowel, 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 Listowel
What is the unemployment rate in Listowel?
14% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 4.5% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Listowel a good place to find work?
Listowel earns a D for jobs and income, better than 14% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #286 of 321 Irish towns.
How do people in Listowel get to work?
76% of commuters go by car or van, 13% walk, 1.2% cycle and 0.9% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 8% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Listowel?
Trips to work, school or college take 22.3 minutes on average; 7.2% take an hour or more and 54% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Listowel?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Listowel’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Listowel 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 Listowel 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).