Photo: Pmk58 · CC BY-SA 4.0Waterville is older than 99% of Irish towns: a median age of 47.2
Where 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns, Waterville has 3.4%. 555 residents in 232 households: that is Waterville at the 2022 Census. The share of one-person households stands at 33%. The town has fewer households of parents with children than 73% of Irish towns, at 38%.
Above 81% of Irish towns: 1.6% of residents speak Irish daily 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
The ability to speak Irish extends to 232 residents (45% of those aged 3 and over). As a yardstick, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
+10% since 2016, a pace 65% of Irish towns didn’t match
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 the median change is +8%; across Co. Kerry’s towns, +2%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 98% of Irish towns: 25%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 45–49 than any other five-year age: 8.3% of residents. Few places have so few residents aged 15 to 24: 9% here, fewer than in 98% of Irish towns. The wider picture: 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Students among residents 15 and over: 8.1%, a lower share than 92% of Irish towns
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
Workers here lean to skilled trades: 25%, against a typical 11%. Residents who moved in within the year: 6.5% of the total. The usual figure: 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
2.3 people per household, fewer than in 89% 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.
3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home (Ireland’s towns: 4.7%).
A holiday town: 46% of homes are holiday homes
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
Set against 17% across Ireland’s towns, just over one in ten households have no car or van in Waterville. Across Ireland’s towns, holiday homes come to 0.2%.
€41,380 a year: where the middle household sits
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €41,380 gross, 31% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Across Co. Kerry the median is €48,320.
Below 62% of Irish towns: 13% of residents are citizens of another country
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.
French leads the languages spoken at home (1.6%), among the 8.3% who speak another language there; 0.6% speak English not well or not at all. At 22%, the share of residents born outside Ireland is lower than in 51% of Irish towns. The share of residents with another country’s citizenship across Ireland’s towns is 15%.
86% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, more than in 84% 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 Waterville · Co. Kerry’s towns 73% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
On religion, 17% answered “no religion”, 78% Catholic and 4.6% another religion, against 17% and 71% across Ireland’s towns. Behind White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (11%), Other, including mixed (1.4%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.8%). Residents with no religion are more common here than in 50% of Irish towns.
A higher share of married residents 15 and over than 82% of Irish towns, at 38%
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.
Unpaid carers make up 6.5%, against 5.4% across Ireland’s towns. Against that, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
28% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 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
Postgraduate qualifications are held by 6.2% of adults here, while 5.5% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Typically, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
The places around Waterville
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterville | 555 | — | 47.2 | 25% | 38% |
| Cahirciveen | 1,297 | 13.2 km | 43.6 | 23% | 28% |
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).
- Speaking Irish. CSO asks everyone aged 3 and over whether they can speak Irish and how often; “daily outside education” leaves out speaking it only at school.
- 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 Waterville’s residents
What is the population of Waterville?
Waterville had 555 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 10% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Waterville?
The median age is 47.2. 20% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Waterville?
45% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (232 people), and 1.6% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns. Waterville is in the Gaeltacht, the districts where Irish is the community language.
How diverse is Waterville?
86% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 22% were born abroad and 13% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Waterville?
78% are Catholic, 17% have no religion and 4.6% another religion; 6.3% didn’t say.
Is Waterville good for families?
38% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 20% of residents are under 18. Schools near Waterville are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Waterville?
Median gross household income in Waterville was €41,380 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).