Photo: David Purchase · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of Irish towns: half of Tarbert is over 47.7
92% of residents describe themselves as White Irish; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 78%. The census found that 0.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Tarbert. Few places have so few households of parents with children: 32% here, fewer than in 84% of Irish towns. This Co. Kerry town had 546 residents in 233 households at the 2022 Census.
Since 2016, Tarbert has changed by −1%, slower than 94% of Irish towns
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.
The median change is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +2% across Co. Kerry’s towns.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 99% of Irish towns, at 31%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 (Ireland’s towns: 12%). Against that, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Kerry 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
Only 7.5% of residents 15 and over are students in Tarbert
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
Where 11% is typical, skilled trades take in 22% of workers. For comparison, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns. The census found that 3.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Tarbert.
Above 96% of Irish towns: 35% of households are one person living alone
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.
Households in Tarbert hold 2.3 people on average (Ireland’s towns: 2.7). By way of comparison, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns.
Tarbert sits above 94% of Irish towns for holiday homes (3.8%)
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
17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns, against 12% in Tarbert. Fewer households in flats than in 99% of Irish towns: 0.4%. The wider picture: 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns.
The median household brings in €44,100 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €44,100 a year before tax, the median household income is 27% under that of Ireland (€60,120). Co. Kerry comes in at €48,320 at the median.
Residents with another country’s citizenship: 5.3%, a lower share than 98% of Irish towns
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.
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the UK (8.6%) and outside the EU and UK (3.2%). Across the comparison, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. At 14%, the share of residents born outside Ireland is lower than in 88% of Irish towns.
Irish speakers: 44% of Tarbert’s residents
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
Tralee leads Co. Kerry with 1.3%. 1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 56% of Irish towns.
Residents who said they are Catholic: 83%, a higher share than 95% 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: 92% of Tarbert · Co. Kerry’s towns 73% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White Irish, the main groups are Other White (4.7%), Asian or Asian Irish (2%) and Other, including mixed (1.4%). Compared with other places, residents with no religion are scarce here: 11%, fewer than in 90% of Irish towns. By way of comparison, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
Unpaid carers make up 8.8% in Tarbert, more than in 99% 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.
Where just over a third of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns, Tarbert has 44%. As a yardstick, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
22% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 86% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
6.5% of Tarbert’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 12% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). The usual figure: 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
The towns around Tarbert are all younger
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
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 Tarbert’s residents
What is the population of Tarbert?
Tarbert had 546 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Tarbert?
The median age is 47.7. 20% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Tarbert?
44% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (227 people), and 1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Tarbert?
92% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 14% were born abroad and 5.3% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Tarbert?
83% are Catholic, 11% have no religion and 6.7% another religion; 3.7% didn’t say.
Is Tarbert good for families?
32% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 20% of residents are under 18. Schools near Tarbert are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Tarbert?
Median gross household income in Tarbert was €44,100 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).