Callan · A.-K. D. · CC BY-SA 4.0County Kilkenny, subject by subject
County Kilkenny is one of Ireland’s strongest counties: 4th of 26 overall, best on safety and weakest on growth.
Each subject puts an official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
2nd of 26A+96/100 Near the top of Ireland’s counties for safety. Too few of its towns are graded to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the county’s own figure, which sits on the stronger side.
Violent crime alone (assault, robbery, kidnapping, weapons): 4.2 per 1,000 a year (Ireland 5.9), 4th of 26.
Every recorded crime but fraud, theft, drugs and road traffic included: 45.4 per 1,000 a year (Ireland 54.1), 16th of 26.
Source: CSO, recorded crime incidents by Garda station (CJA11), 2023-2025, fraud left out; each station’s area from the Census 2011 Garda sub-districts, and every Small Area’s residents (Census 2022) given its station area’s rate. Homicide and sexual offences aren’t published by station.
County Kilkenny has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Schools
Not gradedNot graded in Ireland (Education Act 1998, s.53). Section 53 of the Education Act 1998 rules out school league tables, so neither towns nor counties get a Schools grade, and no county results figure is published. Each town’s Schools page lists its schools.
Cost of living
14th of 26B−48/100 Mid-table on cost of living. The county’s own figure decides the grade here, and it is better than most.
A year’s rent on a new tenancy: 25% of median household income (middle county 28%), 3rd of 26.
Median sale price, 2025: €316,000 (Ireland €360,000), 19th of 26.
Average monthly rent on new tenancies, 2025: €1,207 (middle county €1,207), 14th of 26.
Source: CSO, median price of residential sales by county, 2025 (Revenue stamp-duty filings, HPA02); RTB average monthly rent on new tenancies, 2025 (RIA02; none for the State as a whole); CSO Geographical Profiles of Income, 2022 (median gross household income, GPIIA05).
County Kilkenny has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Health
3rd of 26A92/100 Among Ireland’s best counties for health. The county’s own figure decides the grade here, and it is better than most.
Deaths, age-standardised, 2020-2024: 892 a year per 100,000 people (Ireland 918), 6th of 26.
Disability against Ireland’s rate for the same ages: 98 (Ireland 100), 8th of 26.
Source: CSO, Census 2022 general health and disability by Small Area, against Ireland’s rates for each sex and age; CSO age-standardised mortality by county, 2020-2024 (MORT04). No life expectancy is published by county.
County Kilkenny has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Jobs & income
5th of 26A−84/100 Ahead of most counties on jobs and income. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it compares well.
Unemployment (Census 2022, aged 15 and over): 8.0% (Ireland 8.3%), 6th of 26.
Disposable income per person, 2024: €27,900 (Ireland €30,100), 12th of 26.
Source: CSO, Geographical Profiles of Income, 2022 (GPIIA05); County Incomes, 2024 (RAA02); Census 2022 (unemployment, aged 15 and over).
County Kilkenny has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Getting about
13th of 26B−52/100 Mid-table on getting about. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it trails most.
Drive or are driven to work: 77% (Ireland 69%).
Work mainly from home: 12% of workers (Ireland 12%), 9th of 26.
Source: CSO, Census 2022, means of travel to work by Small Area; people who work mainly from home or didn’t say left out.
County Kilkenny has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Hazards
21st of 26C−20/100 In the lower half of the counties on hazards. Too few of its towns are graded to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the county’s own figure, which sits on the weaker side.
Homes estimated over the radon reference level, averaged over residents: 11.8% (Ireland 7.0%), 20th of 26.
Source: EPA radon map: the estimated share of homes over the reference level in each 10 km square, under each Small Area’s residents (Census 2022).
County Kilkenny has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Growth
26th of 26D−0/100 Among Ireland’s weakest counties for growth. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it trails most.
Since 2011: +9.2% (Ireland +12.2%), 19th of 26.
Source: CSO, census populations by county, 2011, 2016 and 2022 (F1003).
County Kilkenny has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
How County Kilkenny compares with its neighbours
| Kilkenny | Laois | Tipperary | Carlow | Waterford | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A 884th of 26 | B 6410th of 26 | B 5612th of 26 | C 2819th of 26 | D 1024th of 26 |
| Safety | A+ 962nd official | C 2820th official | C+ 4414th official · 5% in top towns | A− 767th official | D− 025th official · 0% in top towns |
| Schools | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Cost of living | B− 4819th official | A− 7613th official | A+ 1009th official · 95% in top towns | C+ 3610th official | C− 1614th official · 0% in top towns |
| Health | A 923rd official | B 6421st official | C− 1617th official · 0% in top towns | D 825th official | B 5616th official · 16% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | A− 848th official | B+ 687th official | B 6415th official · 5% in top towns | C 2814th official | C+ 4417th official · 16% in top towns |
| Getting about | B− 5214th official | C 3218th official | C+ 3617th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 4016th official | A 888th official · 27% in top towns |
| Hazards | C− 2022nd official | B 5611th official | B− 4816th official · 30% in top towns | D− 026th official | C− 1620th official · 0% in top towns |
| Growth | D− 025th official | B 6410th official | D− 424th official · 0% in top towns | B+ 748th official | B 605th official · 17% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for Ireland. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, towns, villages and countryside together: Census 2022 Small Areas added up, Garda station areas weighted by the people living in them, or the CSO’s own county table. It is ranked against Ireland’s other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for Ireland. Quarters are of people, not towns, so a county with a city isn’t marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the county’s standing among Ireland’s 26 counties: the two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, health 14, jobs and income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, hazards 4 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it can’t show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Schools aren’t graded: the Education Act 1998 (s.53) rules out school league tables. No life expectancy is published by county, so health uses age-standardised measures instead. The county figure for hazards is radon: the towns’ flood measure needs LiDAR, which covers towns, not the countryside. The RTB publishes no rent for the State as a whole, so rents are set beside the middle county. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Irish towns against each other only, run #58 of 4 November 2026 · County figures: Census 2022 Small Areas added up by county; the CSO’s county tables (prices, incomes, mortality, population); Garda station-area crime rates (CSO); RTB rents; the EPA radon map. 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).