Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Johnstown earn more than those in 87% of Irish towns
Unemployment in Johnstown stood at 5.8% at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. Johnstown grades B for jobs and income. From Johnstown, trips to work, school or college average 33.3 minutes; for 14%, it takes an hour or more.
Johnstown and work: the main findings
Less unemployment than most towns
5.8% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 1.3% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household in Johnstown had €79,630 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. CSO publishes no income figure for this place, so this one is our estimate from its electoral divisions. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 33.3 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 14% 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.
Jobs & income in Johnstown: graded B
Taken together, its four measures make it better than 65% of Irish towns.
Its strongest measure is the unemployment rate; its weakest, trip times.
Graded against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more; a shorter trip and less unemployment count in its favor.
Students are 20% of people aged 15 and over. They count among the 15 to 64s, so they lower the share in work and the grade with it.
Ranks start at 2,500 residents, so this grade has no rank.
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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Johnstown: 68%
Of the 14 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Kildare, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 1.3% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 34% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 62% 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.
Half the households here have more than €79,630 a year
That puts Johnstown 9% above the median for County Kildare as a whole, €72,997. Of the county’s 14 towns of 2,500 or more, 5 have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €64,680. The State median is €60,123, 24% below Johnstown’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 Johnstown takes more time than in the middle of Irish towns
Trips of 15 to 44 minutes are the most common, at 53% (middle of County Kildare: 49%). Among County Kildare’s 14 towns counted, 10 have shorter trips on average. Against 28% in the middle of County Kildare, 24% of trips take under 15 minutes.
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 the people of Johnstown earn a living, by industry
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 22% (against 25% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 1.1%.
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: 6.4% of workers in Johnstown
Walking takes 1.4% of commuters and cycling 1.1%, where the middle of Irish towns has 10% and 2.4%. Driving dominates: 80% go to work by car or van. The middle of Irish towns has 11% working mainly from home; here it is 13%. The middle of Irish towns has 6% going by bus; here it is 3.1%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
People signing on in County Kildare, against 2019
6,663 people were signing on in County Kildare in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 rose by 1%. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 69 months. Its lowest month since 2019 was November 2023, at 5,976. County Kildare: signing on peaked in July 2020 at 8,793, 12% 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. This place has no office of its own name, so the chart is its county’s or city’s.
People signing on each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Most of Johnstown works: 62% of adults are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 20% are full-time students (against 11%), 6.5% are retired (against 15%) and 2.3% 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.
Johnstown earns D− for walkability
Better than 2% of Irish towns on two measures together.
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.
Around Johnstown: jobs, pay and the commute
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnstown | 68% | 5.8% | €80K | 33.3 min | B | D− |
| Kill 2.2 km | 74% | 6.1% | €75K | 32.1 min | A− | D |
| Naas 3.2 km | 73% | 6.2% | €82K | 32.2 min | A− | C+ |
| Sallins 3.9 km | 71% | 6.4% | €79K | 33.9 min | B+ | B |
| Carragh 7.2 km | 66% | 3.4% | €102K | 33.1 min | B+ | D |
| Clane 8.2 km | 73% | 6.4% | €74K | 33.2 min | A− | C− |
| Blessington 8.9 km | 69% | 7.2% | €69K | 31.6 min | B | 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 Johnstown, 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 Johnstown
What is the unemployment rate in Johnstown?
5.8% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 1.3% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Johnstown a good place to find work?
Johnstown earns a B for jobs and income, better than 65% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Johnstown get to work?
80% of commuters go by car or van, 1.4% walk, 1.1% cycle and 3.9% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 13% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Johnstown?
Trips to work, school or college take 33.3 minutes on average; 14% take an hour or more and 24% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Johnstown?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Johnstown’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Johnstown 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 Johnstown 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).