Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Listowel is older than 93% of Irish towns: a median age of 42.6
Set against 0.2% across Ireland’s towns, 3.2% of homes are holiday homes in Listowel. Census day 2022: 4,794 residents and 2,053 households locally. The share of residents who said they are Catholic stands at 82%. On one-person households, Listowel sits higher than 95% of Irish towns: 35%.
What stands out about the people of Listowel
Older than most towns
Half of Listowel’s residents are under 42.6 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 21% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than before
Listowel went from about 4,800 people in 2016 to 4,794 in 2022, ±0%: slower growth than in 93% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Slower growth than 93% of Irish towns: Listowel changed by ±0% since 2016
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.
Across Ireland’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +8%; across Co. Kerry’s towns, by more than +2%.
21% of Listowel is 65 or over, a higher share than 92% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
40–44 is the most common age band: 7.6% of residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are scarce here: 10%, fewer than in 95% of Irish towns. Measured more widely, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Listowel, 42.6. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Kerry 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 81% of Irish towns, at 5.4%
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 share of students among residents 15 and over trails 84% of Irish towns: 8.6%. Residents who moved in within the year: 7.5% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
Listowel households average 2.3 people, smaller than in 93% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Kerry’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns, against 2.4% in Listowel. Here, 38% of households are parents with children.
In Listowel, 5% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 88% of Irish towns
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
At home, 83% have broadband, while 14% have no internet access (typical: 7.6%). 4.9% of households live in a flat or apartment, less than in 88% of Irish towns, against a typical 12% across Ireland’s towns. Across Listowel, nearly a fifth of households have no car or van.
The median household brings in €39,930 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €39,930 a year before tax, the median household income is 34% under that of Ireland (€60,120). Co. Kerry’s median household income is €48,320.
Fewer residents with another country’s citizenship than 78% of Irish towns: 9.7%
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 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
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.
11% speak another language at home, most often Polish (4.3%); 1.7% speak English not well or not at all. Few places have so few residents born outside Ireland: 17% here, fewer than in three quarters of Irish towns. On average, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
1.1% of residents speak Irish every day outside education
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
Some 1,785 people here, 40% of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. The highest share in Co. Kerry belongs to Tralee (1.3%).
11% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 88% of Irish towns
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: 86% of Listowel · Co. Kerry’s towns 73% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 86% here and 78% across Ireland’s towns. Measured more widely, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. After White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (9.6%), Irish Traveller (1.7%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.6%).
Unpaid carers: 6.4%, a higher share than 87% of Irish towns
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.
By its share of married residents 15 and over (33%), Listowel is below 62% of Irish towns. The comparison figure for unpaid carers is 5.4% across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher: 28%, a lower share than 70% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
7.7% of Listowel’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 12% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Across the comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
41 towns of 4,154 to 5,478 people: this is the 3rd oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Dangan (27.5) and the oldest Fair Hill (44.9). Nearest to Listowel in age: Ballyboden (41.5), Gurranebraher (42.4), Ballinlough (44.1) and Fair Hill (44.9).
A younger town than 1 of the 2 around it: Listowel
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listowel | 4,794 | — | 42.6 | 21% | 38% |
| Abbeyfeale | 2,206 | 14.5 km | 40.8 | 18% | 39% |
| Ballybunion | 1,618 | 14.6 km | 44.4 | 24% | 36% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Kerry’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Kerry’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.
Questions about Listowel’s residents
What is the population of Listowel?
Listowel had 4,794 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Listowel?
The median age is 42.6, older than 93% of Irish towns. 22% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Listowel?
40% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,785 people), and 1.1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Listowel?
86% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 17% were born abroad and 9.7% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Listowel?
82% are Catholic, 11% have no religion and 6.5% another religion; 4.1% didn’t say.
Is Listowel good for families?
38% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 22% of residents are under 18. Schools near Listowel are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Listowel?
Median gross household income in Listowel was €39,930 in 2022, against €48,320 across Co. Kerry 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. 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).