Photo: Sheila1988 · CC0Households in Straffan earn more than those in 99% of Irish towns
Unemployment in Straffan stood at 2.9% at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. Straffan grades A+ for jobs and income. On census day in 2022, 17% of its workers worked mainly from home.
Straffan at work: what stands out
More people in work than most towns
77% of people aged 15 to 64 in Straffan had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
2.9% 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 Straffan had €98,830 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 ↓
Many work from home
17% of workers worked mainly from home on census day, against 11% in the middle of Irish towns. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Jobs and income in Straffan earn A+
With four measures combined, it comes out better than 98% 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.
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.
77% of working-age people in Straffan have jobs
All 14 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Kildare 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. Put another way, 68% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 66% 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.
Median household income in Straffan is €98,830
That puts Straffan 35% above the median for County Kildare as a whole, €72,997. No town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. Net of tax, it is €75,840. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 39% below Straffan’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
7.8% of commuters in Straffan go on foot, by bike or by public transport
Against 10% and 2.4% in the middle of Irish towns, 1.3% walk and 0.4% cycle. Most go by car or van: 75% of commuters. Home is the main workplace for 17%, where the middle of Irish towns has 11%. The middle of Irish towns has 6% by bus and 0.9% by rail; here it is 3.8% and 2.3%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
What Straffan does for a living
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 24% (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.
30.3 minutes from Straffan to work or school, longer than the middle of Irish towns
The middle of County Kildare averages 32.6 minutes a trip. Among County Kildare’s 14 towns counted, 1 have shorter trips on average. Under 15 minutes: 37% of trips, next to 28% in the middle of County Kildare. Long trips of an hour or more are 13% of the total, against 14% in the middle of County Kildare. Trips of 15 to 44 minutes are the most common, at 40% (middle of County Kildare: 49%).
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.
How many sign on in County Kildare: the count since 2019
6,663 people were signing on in County Kildare in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count 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 saw its highest month in July 2020: 8,793 people signing on, 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).
66% of people 16 and over in Straffan are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 11% are retired (against 15%).
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
Getting around Straffan on foot earns C−
Better than 20% 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.
Neighbouring places to Straffan, compared
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straffan | 77% | 2.9% | €99K | 30.3 min | A+ | C− |
| Celbridge 5.2 km | 71% | 6.3% | €81K | 33.2 min | A− | B |
| Clane 5.7 km | 73% | 6.4% | €74K | 33.2 min | A− | C− |
| Maynooth 7.5 km | 68% | 5.4% | €89K | 33.6 min | B+ | B |
| Kill 7.7 km | 74% | 6.1% | €75K | 32.1 min | A− | D |
| Newcastle 7.9 km | 75% | 6.8% | €77K | 32.3 min | A− | C |
| Sallins 8 km | 71% | 6.4% | €79K | 33.9 min | B+ | B |
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 Straffan, 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 Straffan
What is the unemployment rate in Straffan?
2.9% 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 Straffan a good place to find work?
Straffan earns an A+ for jobs and income, better than 98% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Straffan get to work?
75% of commuters go by car or van, 1.3% walk, 0.4% cycle and 6.1% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 17% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Straffan?
Trips to work, school or college take 30.3 minutes on average; 13% take an hour or more and 37% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Straffan?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Straffan’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Straffan 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 Straffan 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).