Photo: Jonathan Billinger · CC BY-SA 2.0Above 90% of Irish towns: 54% of households are parents with children
Nearly one in ten residents are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. In 2022, the Census found 3,263 residents in Rathangan, living in 1,114 households. Census figures put one-person households at 17% here. Households without a car or van are rarer here than in 85% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Rathangan
A town of families
43% of households are couples with children and 12% lone parents with children, more than in 90% of Irish towns and the highest share in Co. Kildare; 26% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing faster than most
Rathangan went from about 2,680 people in 2016 to 3,263 in 2022, +22%: faster growth than in 93% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Faster growth than 93% of Irish towns: Rathangan changed by +22% since 2016
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 across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Kildare’s towns +14%.
Half of Rathangan is under 35, younger than 80% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 12%; Rathangan has 11%. In Leixlip, the oldest of Co. Kildare’s towns by this measure, it is 17%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Rathangan, 35. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Kildare 51.0%, Ireland 51.2%.
Fewer students among residents 15 and over than 84% of Irish towns: 8.6%
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
Little separates the share of residents who moved in within the year here, 8.2%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns. For comparison, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Rathangan households average 3 people, larger than in 82% of Irish towns
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.
Against a figure of 4.7% across Ireland’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Rathangan comes in at 3.1%.
In Rathangan, 6.3% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 83% 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
Connected households: 90% on broadband; 7.8% offline (typical: 7.6%). Census figures put holiday homes at 0.2% in Rathangan. As a yardstick, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
Half of households earn more than €62,950 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €62,950 a year before tax, the median household income is near that of Ireland (€60,120). County median: €73,000 (Co. Kildare).
Fewer residents born abroad than 84% of Irish towns: 15%
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 (4.9%) or in the UK (4.5%). Fewer residents with another country’s citizenship than in 85% of Irish towns: 8.5%. Residents born outside Ireland: 22% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
In Rathangan, 0.5% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 96% of Irish towns
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
1,174 residents, 40% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Elsewhere, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Rathangan ranks above 79% of Irish towns on residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 85%
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: 85% of Rathangan · Co. Kildare’s towns 77% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White Irish, the biggest groups are Other White (9%), Black or Black Irish (2.6%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.8%). Compared with other places, residents who said they are Catholic are common here: 77%, more than in four fifths of Irish towns. The usual figure: 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. 15% of residents said they have no religion, against 17% across Ireland’s towns.
Married residents 15 and over: 36%, a higher share than 62% 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.
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 4.9%. Measured more widely, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 27% in Rathangan, less than in 72% 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: 8% of adults. Across Ireland’s towns, adults with a degree or higher come to 36%. Primary level or earlier: 10%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns.
Youngest by rank: 11th of 41 towns of 2,846 to 3,744 people
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Taylor's Hill is the youngest (31.8); Ballybrack the oldest (45.5). Nearest to Rathangan in age: Limerick City Centre (34.8), Annacotty (35), Rahoon (35.2) and Kingscourt (35.2).
Rathangan sits below 3 of its 6 closest neighbours on median age
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathangan | 3,263 | — | 35 | 9.2% | 54% |
| Kildare | 10,302 | 9.2 km | 36 | 9% | 52% |
| Monasterevin | 5,307 | 10.0 km | 35.2 | 9.9% | 51% |
| Kilmeage | 1,054 | 10.7 km | 34.4 | 8.7% | 52% |
| Allenwood | 1,685 | 11.3 km | 33.2 | 7.5% | 57% |
| Newbridge | 24,366 | 13.6 km | 37.6 | 11% | 50% |
| Derrinturn | 1,837 | 13.6 km | 33.7 | 8.4% | 60% |
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 Rathangan’s residents
What is the population of Rathangan?
Rathangan had 3,263 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 22% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rathangan?
The median age is 35, younger than 80% of Irish towns. 30% are under 18 and 9.2% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rathangan?
40% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,174 people), and 0.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rathangan?
85% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 15% were born abroad and 8.5% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rathangan?
77% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 8.4% another religion; 5.7% didn’t say.
Is Rathangan good for families?
54% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 30% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rathangan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rathangan?
Median gross household income in Rathangan was €62,950 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).