Photo: William Murphy from Dublin, Ireland · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Newbridge earn more than those in 67% of Irish towns
From Newbridge, trips to work, school or college average 30.7 minutes, with 13% taking an hour or more. On jobs and income together, Newbridge grades B−, #12 of 14 in County Kildare. The 2022 census put unemployment in Newbridge at 9.3%, where the middle of Irish towns has 9.2%.
Work in Newbridge: the figures worth knowing
Work near the middle
67% of people aged 15 to 64 in Newbridge had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 30.7 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 13% 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.
On jobs and income, Newbridge grades B−
Better than 48% of Irish towns across four measures, #12 of 14 in County Kildare.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
Graded against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more; a shorter trip and less unemployment count in its favor.
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.
Work and school are further off in time from Newbridge than for the middle of Irish towns
Among County Kildare’s 14 towns counted, 1 have shorter trips on average. 31% of trips take under 15 minutes, against 28% in the middle of County Kildare. Most often, a trip takes 15 to 44 minutes: 48%, about the same as in the middle of County Kildare. The trip from the middle of County Kildare averages 32.6 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.
The work of Newbridge’s residents, industry by industry
Professional services, health and education is the second-largest at 22%, against 25% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 0.8%.
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.
In work
Of the 13 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Kildare, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 2.9% of people aged 15 and over. Put another way, 49% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 58% 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 €64,041 a year
That puts Newbridge 12% below the median for County Kildare as a whole, €72,997. Of the county’s 13 other towns of 2,500 or more, 9 have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €55,048. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 6% below Newbridge’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Household incomes across Newbridge: €54K to €95K
Median gross household income in each of the 3 electoral divisions where 50 or more of Newbridge’s households live: the highest is 1.8 times the lowest.
| Electoral division | Households here | Median income (whole division) | Aged 15–64 in work (here) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morristownbiller | 5,142 | €69,697 | 68% |
| Droichead Nua (Newbridge) Urban | 2,945 | €53,801 | 67% |
| Droichead Nua (Newbridge) Rural | 234 | €95,000 | 67% |
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022 (GPIIA01): each division’s median covers all its households, including any outside Newbridge; households and the share in work are Newbridge’s own part (Census 2022, CSO SAPS).
Not by car: 22% of Newbridge’s commuters walk, cycle or ride the bus or train
Mainly from home: 9.9% of residents in work, next to 11% in the middle of Irish towns. The bus takes 4.1% of commuters and the train, DART or Luas 5.7%; the middle of Irish towns has 6% and 0.9%. Against 5.2% in the middle of County Kildare, 10% walk here. The car or van takes 68% of commuters; the middle of County Kildare has 70%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
The monthly count of people signing on in County Kildare
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%. For 69 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. Its lowest month since 2019 was November 2023, at 5,976.
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.
People signing on each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
How Newbridge spends its days: 58% of adults in work
The mix is close to Irish towns’ as a whole.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
Newbridge on foot: a B− grade
Better than 51% of Irish towns on two measures together, #6 of 14 in County Kildare.
Of the everyday places, a post office is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (43%).
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.
How Newbridge ranks: 30th of 46 Irish towns of 17,100 to 32,900
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballincollig County Cork | 21,940 | 73% | 5.1% | €76K | A+ |
| 2 | Douglas County Cork | 22,029 | 73% | 5.1% | €80K | A+ |
| 3 | Sandymount County Dublin | 22,340 | 75% | 6.3% | €90K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Naas County Kildare | 26,180 | 73% | 6.2% | €82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Celbridge County Kildare | 20,601 | 71% | 6.3% | €81K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 22 | Maynooth County Kildare | 17,259 | 68% | 5.4% | €89K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Kilkenny County Kilkenny | 27,184 | 68% | 10% | €54K | B |
| 29 | Crumlin County Dublin | 19,287 | 71% | 9.4% | €56K | B |
| 30 | Newbridge County Kildare | 24,366 | 67% | 9.3% | €64K | B− |
| 31 | Letterkenny County Donegal | 22,549 | 65% | 12% | €50K | B− |
| 32 | Wexford County Wexford | 21,524 | 66% | 11% | €47K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Ballymun County Dublin | 22,321 | 63% | 16% | €53K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Newbridge, and others in County Kildare.
Newbridge and its neighbours: work and income
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newbridge | 67% | 9.3% | €64K | 30.7 min | B− | B− |
| Athgarvan 3.5 km | 70% | 6.7% | €95K | 29.6 min | A− | D− |
| Curragh Camp 5.2 km | 65% | 12% | €62K | 28.8 min | C+ | D |
| Kilcullen 6.6 km | 73% | 6.4% | €66K | 28.6 min | A− | D |
| Kildare 6.9 km | 66% | 10% | €63K | 31.2 min | C+ | B− |
| Carragh 8.2 km | 66% | 3.4% | €102K | 33.1 min | B+ | D |
| Kilmeage 8.5 km | 64% | 10% | €60K | 31.8 min | C | D− |
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 Newbridge, 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 Newbridge
What is the unemployment rate in Newbridge?
9.3% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 2.9% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Newbridge a good place to find work?
Newbridge earns a B− for jobs and income, better than 48% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #12 of 14 in County Kildare.
How do people in Newbridge get to work?
68% of commuters go by car or van, 10% walk, 1.9% cycle and 9.8% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 9.9% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Newbridge?
Trips to work, school or college take 30.7 minutes on average; 13% take an hour or more and 31% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Newbridge?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Newbridge’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Newbridge 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 Newbridge 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).