Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 9,288 people live in this town, in Co. Laois. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage lists 68 of its buildings.
Portarlington’s weakest subject is health: 154 residents in bad health and 126 with a disability for every 100 its ages predict. Taken together, its subjects give Portarlington a C overall, better than 30% of Irish towns. In the ranking it comes #224 of 320 Irish towns. Where it does best is cost of living (A) — at a median €251,000, a home costs 4.8 times the town’s median household income. Jobs & income is weaker too — jobs reach 63% of 15 to 64s, and unemployment is 10%. The rest of its grades are middling: C+ for safety and B for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · health and work, CSO Census 2022 · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025 · radon, EPA.
Each subject compares Portarlington with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
The 3 things Portarlington does most differently from other towns.
The record adds 14 archaeological sites.
Homes built before 1919: 5%, against 3% across Irish towns.
Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 68 buildings in Portarlington, 1 of national or international importance. 14 archaeological sites are on the record here.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Portarlington.
Among the 40 Irish towns closest to its size, Portarlington ranks 39th on the Health Grade, near the foot. Disability touches 25% of the town’s population. 2.4% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, above Irish towns (2%).
| Census 2022 | Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| With a disability | 25% | – | 22% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.4% | – | 2% |
| Good or very good health | 87% | – | 88% |
| Unpaid carers | 5% | – | 5.4% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
The typical sale price in Portarlington reached €283K in 2025, up 83% from €155K in 2010. Nearly two thirds of households own their home, higher than Irish towns (61%). Social renters account for 16% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| New homes | €320,000 | 111 |
| Second-hand homes | €226,500 | 392 |
| The last 12 months | €335,000 | 208 |
| Housing | Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €1,150 | – | €1,606 |
| Median sale price | €251K | – | €350K |
| Households in social housing | 16% | – | 13% |
| Households owning their home | 65% | – | 61% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
The jobless rate is 10%. 7.6% of workers worked mainly from home, lower than Irish towns (11%). The average household earns €52,817 a year before tax.
| Census 2022 | Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 33.1 min | – | 27.6 min |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 63% | – | 68% |
| Unemployment rate | 10% | – | 9.2% |
| Median household income | €52,817 | – | €57,760 |
CSO, Census 2022 travel to work, work and education · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · Live Register · Census day was 3 April 2022, with working from home still common; shares are of those who travelled.
Expect July highs of around 20.2°C in Portarlington. The year’s mean temperature is 9.9°C, below Irish towns (10.3°C). October is the wettest month here, with 93 mm of rain on average.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 2.0°C | – | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 9.9°C | – | 10.3°C |
| July high | 20.2°C | – | 19.9°C |
| Rain a year | 896 mm | – | 937 mm |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Its paths and tracks come to 0.8 km per km², lower than Irish towns (2.1 km per km²). Green space in Portarlington adds up to 8 ha, across 3 parks. Also worth knowing: among the protected sites near Portarlington is River Barrow.
| Outdoors | Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near a park | 65% | – | 92% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.8 km per km² | – | 2.1 km per km² |
| Green space per 1,000 residents | 0.8 ha | – | 4.1 ha |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
In November a normal day reaches 11°C and a normal night 4°C; the forecast for Portarlington below sets each day against them. Today stays dry, with only a light wind of up to 8 km/h and a low of 4°C. Of the days after that, Tuesday brings the most rain: about 10 mm.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 2°C | 237 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 5°C | 183 mm |
| Summer | 20°C | 11°C | 221 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 6°C | 255 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
10% of residents are 65 or over, below Irish towns (14%). Among adults, 23% have a degree. Those aged 15 to 24 account for 13% of residents.
Women make up 50.3% of Portarlington
4,669 women and 4,619 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 24% | – | 20% |
| 15–24 | 13% | – | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | – | 29% |
| 45–64 | 24% | – | 24% |
| 65+ | 10% | – | 14% |
| Primary or none | 11% | – | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 17% | – | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 41% | – | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 7% | – | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 23% | – | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Laois and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
51% voted at the last local elections. Fianna Fáil lead Laois County Council with 6 of 19 seats, but no party has a majority: 10 are needed. In the Dáil, Portarlington is part of Laois, which elects 3 TDs.
| Turnout | Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 51% | – | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 58% | – | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
5.1% of its homes were built before 1919, above Irish towns (3.4%). The Sites and Monuments Record lists 14 sites here, above Irish towns (11). Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 68 buildings in Portarlington, 1 of national or international importance.
| Heritage | Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 73 | – | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 5.1% | – | 3.4% |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Of the graded crimes in Portarlington, assaults and harassment came up most often (2023–2025). The overall crime rate is 41.2 per 1,000 residents a year. What’s more, homes see 5.3 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Not in the gradeTheft, public order and offences found by Garda checks (drugs, road traffic, dangerous acts) are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence, burglary and damage.
| Per 1,000 a year | Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary & damage | 5.3 | – | 6.4 |
| All recorded crime | 41.2 | – | 54.3 |
| Theft | 10.9 | – | 15.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
Landslides: none of Portarlington lies in a high-susceptibility zone. Radon is rarely a worry in the town: under 1% of homes are estimated above the reference level.
| Share of homes | Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near a river | 49% | – | 0.5% |
| In high-radon areas | 0% | – | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
5 schools lie within 3 km of Portarlington: 4 primary schools and 1 secondary school. The nearest secondary, Coláiste Íosagáin, is 1.3 km away.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Phadraig BoysLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 521 | Catholic |
| Coláiste ÍosagáinLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 1,182 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Portarlington | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | – | 39% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | – | 35% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | – | 8% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | −3% | – | +4% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Portarlington. Best known first.
Museum · Office of Public WorksEmo Court4.3 km outside town, to the south
CastleLea Castle900 m outside town, to the east
CastleTinnakill Castle4.4 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
5 notable people were born in Portarlington.
Urban area in Co. Laois
9,288 people live in Portarlington, in the area of Laois County Council. TownRatings uses the CSO’s 2022 Urban Areas as Ireland’s towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a county or a council area, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from Tailte Éireann’s boundaries and the CSO’s Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0)
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portarlington | 9,288 | — | C | A | C+ | D |
| Monasterevin Kildare | 5,307 | 8.9 | B+ | A− | B | C |
| Mountmellick | 4,905 | 10 | C+ | A | B− | D− |
| Rathangan Kildare | 3,263 | 15 | A+ | A | A | B |
| Portlaoise | 23,494 | 15 | C− | B+ | D | C− |
| Stradbally | 1,404 | 16 | — | A− | B− | D |
| Daingean Offaly | 1,223 | 17 | — | A− | B+ | C− |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
The median age in Portarlington is 36.4, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
Portarlington had 9,288 people at the 2022 census, up from 8,477 in 2016: 9.6% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
8% mostly work from home, and 34% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Sources: CSO, Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics (CC BY 4.0) · Tailte Éireann, Urban Areas and Electoral Divisions 2022 (CC BY 4.0) · TownRatings grades, run #544 (Irish towns only). 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).