Find your town in County Laois
Some 91,877 people lived in County Laois in 2022. The county’s leader is Mountmellick, placed #199 of the 320 ranked nationally. County Laois grew by 8.5% between the 2016 and 2022 censuses. Households in the county have a median gross income of €59,521 (2022). For a new letting, the county average in 2025 was €1,235 a month.
What County Laois is like
Too few towns in County Laois have an overall grade for a ranking, so this reads all 8 that have subject grades (1,000 residents or more). Against towns across Ireland, their middle town is strongest on cost of living and hazard risk, weakest on health.
0 of 3 (0%) grade A− or better, against 25% of Irish towns.
Every town ranked by scoreThe full list for County Laois, with what drives each gradeCounty report cardHow County Laois compares with Ireland’s other counties, subject by subjectCompare two townsSide by side, subject by subjectFind a town that’s…
Each town’s place in the country is beside it.
3 towns · in national order
Towns without an overall grade
Each has its page and the subject grades it has; the reason it has no overall grade is beside it.
13 smaller places in County Laois
With every town of 1,000 or more above, these are the remaining places in County Laois, A to Z: each has its page with its figures, too small for grades. The search at the top finds these too.
13 places under 1,000 people, A to Z: their page, no grades
Counties next to County Laois
The counties that share a border with it: each one’s places, and how many of its towns have an overall grade.
Questions about County Laois
How do the biggest towns in County Laois grade?
Portlaoise grades C− overall, with its best grade in hazard risk. Next in size, Portarlington grades C, best in cost of living.
How does County Laois compare with the other counties?
Its report card puts County Laois 10th of 26 counties overall, a grade of B, from official county figures and its towns’ grades together; cost of living is its strongest subject there and safety its weakest.
Is every town in County Laois on TownRatings?
Yes: every one has its page, listed here from the biggest town to the smallest place; size decides only how many grades a page carries.
Why isn’t my town ranked?
A county ranks its towns once five or more have an overall grade; County Laois has fewer, so its towns stand in national order. Mountrath, Abbeyleix, Stradbally, Rathdowney and 1 more have no overall grade; their pages show the grades they have, and why.
Photos: Mountmellick, Oliver Dixon (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Portarlington, John Healy (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Portlaoise, Andreas F. Borchert (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Irish towns against each other only, run #54 of 3 November 2026 · CSO, Census 2022 (population). 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).