Photo: Roger D Kidd · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of households of parents with children than 74% of Irish towns, at 48%
The share of shared households of unrelated adults is 3.4%, against 4.7% across Ireland’s towns. 14% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 75% of Irish towns. At the 2022 Census Athy was home to 11,035 people in 4,051 households. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 13%.
Athy’s population changed by +10% since 2016, more than in 66% 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.
Elsewhere, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +14% across Co. Kildare’s towns.
Younger than 64% of Irish towns: half of Athy is under 36.6
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 10–14 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. The census found that 13% of residents are 65 or over in Athy.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Athy, 36.6. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Kildare 51.0%, Ireland 51.2%.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 69% of Irish towns: 6.3%
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
Compared with a typical 8.3%, caring, leisure and other services account for 12% of workers. Against that, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns. Across Athy, just over one in ten residents 15 and over are students.
Larger households than 57% of Irish towns: 2.7 people on average
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Kildare’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Across Athy, a quarter of households are one person living alone.
19% of households have no car or van, more than in 59% 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
The share of households with broadband is 86%; 12% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). One household in 5 has no car or van, the highest share in Co. Kildare. Locally, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes.
Half of households earn more than €48,060 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Before tax, the middle household here has €48,060 a year, 20% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Kildare as a whole has a median of €73,000.
Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 14% in Athy, less than in 54% 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.
Most residents from abroad were born outside the EU and UK (7.4%) or elsewhere in the EU (5%). Fewer residents born outside Ireland than in just over half of Irish towns: 22%. Across Ireland’s towns, residents with another country’s citizenship come to 15%.
Irish speakers: 35% of Athy’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
In all, 3,474 residents aged 3 and over (35%) can speak Irish. Lower than in 56% of Irish towns: 1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education.
Fewer residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 60% of Irish towns: 75%
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: 75% of Athy · Co. Kildare’s towns 77% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who said they are Catholic: 73% here and 71% across Ireland’s towns. Elsewhere, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. Next after White Irish come Other White (13%), Black or Black Irish (5%) and Asian or Asian Irish (3.2%).
31% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 76% 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.
Few places have as many unpaid carers: 5.4% here, more than in half of Irish towns. Measured more widely, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Below 82% of Irish towns: 23% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
A postgraduate qualification is the highest level for 6.2% of adults; primary level or less for 12% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Measured more widely, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Of 41 towns its size (9,563 to 12,743 people), the 13th youngest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At the ends of the range sit Summerhill (30.5), the youngest, and Foxrock (44.7), the oldest. Nearest to Athy in age: Firhouse (36.3), Gorey (36.4), Longford (36.7) and Kilmainham (36.7).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Athy
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athy | 11,035 | — | 36.6 | 13% | 48% |
| Ballylinan | 1,167 | 6.5 km | 36.7 | 9.1% | 57% |
| Stradbally | 1,404 | 11.0 km | 43.4 | 21% | 41% |
| Castledermot | 1,685 | 13.0 km | 36.7 | 13% | 49% |
| Carlow | 27,351 | 17.6 km | 36.3 | 12% | 43% |
| Monasterevin | 5,307 | 17.7 km | 35.2 | 9.9% | 51% |
| Curragh Camp | 1,076 | 19.1 km | 37.1 | 14% | 45% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Kildare’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Kildare’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 Athy’s residents
What is the population of Athy?
Athy had 11,035 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 10% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Athy?
The median age is 36.6, younger than 64% of Irish towns. 28% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Athy?
35% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (3,474 people), and 1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Athy?
75% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 22% were born abroad and 14% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Athy?
73% are Catholic, 14% have no religion and 14% another religion; 6.6% didn’t say.
Is Athy good for families?
48% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 28% of residents are under 18. Schools near Athy are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Athy?
Median gross household income in Athy was €48,060 in 2022, against €73,000 across Co. Kildare 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).