Photo: Sarah777 at English Wikipedia · Public domainWorking-age people in Abbeyleix have jobs less often than in 79% of Irish towns
People heading out of Abbeyleix for work or study spend 27.9 minutes travelling on average; 11% spend 60 minutes or longer. Out of work at the 2022 census: 11% of the labour force in Abbeyleix, where the middle of Irish towns has 9.2%. For jobs and income, Abbeyleix earns a grade of C−.
Work in Abbeyleix: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
63% of people aged 15 to 64 in Abbeyleix had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Abbeyleix had €46,555 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
On jobs and income, Abbeyleix grades C−
Better than 22% of Irish towns once its four measures are combined.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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.
In Abbeyleix, 63% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Laois, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 2.3% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 39% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 49% 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.
The median household in Abbeyleix has €46,555 a year
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 73% of Irish towns.
That puts Abbeyleix 22% below the median for County Laois as a whole, €59,521. Every town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. Net of tax, it is €41,435. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 29% above Abbeyleix’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
What the people of Abbeyleix do for work
Commerce and trade is the second-largest at 24%, against 26% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 2.4%.
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.
15% of commuters from Abbeyleix go without the car
2.6% go by bus and 2.3% by rail, where the middle of Irish towns has 6% and 0.9%. The middle of Irish towns has 10% walking to work; here it is 8.4%. Driving dominates: 76% go to work by car or van.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
A run to work or school from Abbeyleix much like the middle of Irish towns
Under 15 minutes: 37% of trips, much as in the middle of County Laois. The commonest trip is 15 to 44 minutes, for 46% of trips; the middle of County Laois has 41%. Across County Laois, the middle town’s trips average 30.4 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 Live Register in County Laois, month by month
3,032 people were signing on in County Laois in September 2026. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 72 months. Its lowest month since 2019 was November 2025, at 2,876. County Laois saw its highest month in July 2019: 4,236 people signing on, 9% 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).
49% of Abbeyleix’s adults have a job
Compared with Irish towns, 21% 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 Abbeyleix on foot earns B−
Better than 47% of Irish towns on two measures together.
Of the everyday places, a pharmacy is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (65%).
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.
Work next door to Abbeyleix
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeyleix | 63% | 11% | €47K | 27.9 min | C− | B− |
| Mountrath 12.8 km | 58% | 17% | €43K | 29.7 min | D− | B |
| Ballyragget 14.2 km | 71% | 6.7% | €55K | 27.8 min | B+ | C+ |
| Portlaoise 14.3 km | 64% | 12% | €57K | 30.4 min | C− | C− |
| Castlecomer 15.6 km | 62% | 13% | €52K | 27.5 min | C− | C+ |
| Stradbally 17.6 km | 62% | 11% | €53K | 30 min | C− | C− |
| Rathdowney 17.9 km | 65% | 12% | €46K | 30.9 min | D | 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 Abbeyleix, 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 Abbeyleix
What is the unemployment rate in Abbeyleix?
11% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 2.3% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Abbeyleix a good place to find work?
Abbeyleix earns a C− for jobs and income, better than 22% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Abbeyleix get to work?
76% of commuters go by car or van, 8.4% walk, 1.6% cycle and 4.9% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 8.4% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Abbeyleix?
Trips to work, school or college take 27.9 minutes on average; 11% take an hour or more and 37% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Abbeyleix?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Abbeyleix’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Abbeyleix 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 Abbeyleix 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).