Photo: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Portlaoise trails that of 75% of Irish towns
Portlaoise grades C− for jobs and income, #261 of 321 Irish towns. The 2022 census put unemployment in Portlaoise at 12% (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%).
What the numbers say about work in Portlaoise
Work near the middle
64% of people aged 15 to 64 in Portlaoise had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
12% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 3.8% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Portlaoise grades C− for jobs and income
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, the unemployment rate.
Graded against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more; a shorter trip and less unemployment count in its favor.
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 Portlaoise, 64% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
3.8% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Among the unemployed, 49% had been out of work that long. Of all residents aged 15 and over, retirees and students among them, 56% 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.
Jobs held by Portlaoise’s residents, by industry
Commerce and trade is the second-largest at 23%, against 26% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 0.6%.
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.
€57,471 a year: the median household in Portlaoise
Before tax, 2022: higher than in 55% of Irish towns.
Portlaoise’s median is 3% below County Laois’s (€59,521). After tax, the median is €50,085. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 5% above Portlaoise’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Incomes inside Portlaoise run from €45K to €68K
Median gross household income in each of the 4 electoral divisions where 50 or more of Portlaoise’s households live: the highest is 1.5 times the lowest. The share of people aged 15 to 64 in work runs from 63% in Borris to 70% in Clondarrig.
| Electoral division | Households here | Median income (whole division) | Aged 15–64 in work (here) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portlaoighise Rural | 5,016 | €61,314 | 63% |
| Portlaoighise Urban | 1,582 | €45,394 | 63% |
| Clondarrig | 734 | €68,208 | 70% |
| Borris | 462 | €52,776 | 63% |
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022 (GPIIA01): each division’s median covers all its households, including any outside Portlaoise; households and the share in work are Portlaoise’s own part (Census 2022, CSO SAPS).
16% of people travelling to work from Portlaoise walk, cycle or take the bus or train
8.4% walk to work, against 10% in the middle of Irish towns. For 77% of commuters, the trip to work is by car or van. The middle of Irish towns has 11% working mainly from home; here it is 7.1%. The bus takes 2.6% of commuters and the train, DART or Luas 3%; the middle of Irish towns has 6% and 0.9%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
More time on the road to work or school from Portlaoise than in the middle of Irish towns
Trips of 15 to 44 minutes are the most common, at 41%, close to the middle of County Laois. 38% of trips take under 15 minutes, about the same as in the middle of County Laois. An hour or more: 16% of trips, much as in the middle of County Laois.
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.
21% fewer people sign on in County Laois than in 2019
3,032 people were signing on in County Laois in September 2026. For 72 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. Its lowest month since 2019 was November 2025, at 2,876. Portlaoise office: signing on peaked in July 2019 at 2,186, 8% 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.
People signing on each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Portlaoise at work: 56% of adults have a job
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.
The walkability of Portlaoise: C−
Of the everyday places, a post office is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (10%).
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.
Portlaoise next to Irish towns of 16,400 to 31,700
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballincollig County Cork | 21,940 | 73% | 5.1% | €76K | A+ |
| 2 | Rathmines East County Dublin | 16,923 | 77% | 5.4% | €94K | A+ |
| 3 | Douglas County Cork | 22,029 | 73% | 5.1% | €80K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 44 | Balbriggan County Dublin | 24,322 | 64% | 11% | €61K | C |
| 45 | Tralee County Kerry | 26,079 | 61% | 14% | €43K | C− |
| 46 | Portlaoise County Laois | 23,494 | 64% | 12% | €57K | C− |
| 47 | Carlow County Carlow | 27,351 | 62% | 12% | €50K | C− |
| 48 | Jobstown County Dublin | 23,437 | 62% | 15% | €59K | D |
| 49 | Ballymun County Dublin | 22,321 | 63% | 16% | €53K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Portlaoise, and others in County Laois.
The places around Portlaoise, side by side
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portlaoise | 64% | 12% | €57K | 30.4 min | C− | C− |
| Mountmellick 8.8 km | 61% | 13% | €48K | 30.2 min | D | C+ |
| Stradbally 10.6 km | 62% | 11% | €53K | 30 min | C− | C− |
| Mountrath 12.8 km | 58% | 17% | €43K | 29.7 min | D− | B |
| Abbeyleix 14.3 km | 63% | 11% | €47K | 27.9 min | C− | B− |
| Portarlington 15.1 km | 63% | 10% | €53K | 33.1 min | D | C |
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 Portlaoise, 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 Portlaoise
What is the unemployment rate in Portlaoise?
12% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3.8% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Portlaoise a good place to find work?
Portlaoise earns a C− for jobs and income, better than 23% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #261 of 321 Irish towns.
How do people in Portlaoise get to work?
77% of commuters go by car or van, 8.4% walk, 1.9% cycle and 5.6% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 7.1% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Portlaoise?
Trips to work, school or college take 30.4 minutes on average; 16% take an hour or more and 38% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Portlaoise?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Portlaoise’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Portlaoise 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 Portlaoise 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).