Photo: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0Only 65% of residents describe themselves as White Irish in Portlaoise
Households average 2.9 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. The census found that 50% of households are parents with children in Portlaoise. With a median age of 35.9, Portlaoise is younger than 71% of Irish towns. In 2022, the Census found 23,494 residents in the town, living in 7,794 households.
What stands out about the people of Portlaoise
A mix of backgrounds
35% of residents describe a background other than White Irish, more than in 85% of Irish towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (19%), Asian or Asian Irish (5.9%) and Black or Black Irish (5%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A +9% change since 2016: Portlaoise grew faster than 60% of Irish towns
Residents at the 2016 and 2022 censuses, on 2022 boundaries, and the change beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Change, 2016 to 2022
CSO publishes yearly population estimates for counties and regions, not towns, so the trend is two censuses rather than a line; 2016 ages aren’t on 2022 boundaries, so there is no change by age.
Across Co. Laois’ towns the median is +8%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
In Portlaoise, 9.5% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 81% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 35–39 than any other five-year age: 9.9% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. Across Portlaoise, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Portlaoise, 35.9. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Laois 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
32% of residents belong to the professional, managerial and technical classes
CSO’s social classes (everyone, by their own or their family’s occupation), the occupations of those at work, and where residents lived a year before the Census.
Residents by social class · all residents
Where residents lived a year earlier
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Workers by occupation · residents at work
The occupation that stands out is caring, leisure and other services: 11%, where 8.3% is typical. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 7.8% in Portlaoise. At 10%, the share of students among residents 15 and over is lower than in 52% of Irish towns.
Portlaoise ranks below 81% of Irish towns on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.1%
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Laois’ towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
One-person households make up 22%, against 24% across Ireland’s towns. Against that, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 66% of Irish towns, at 14%
Home types, cars and the internet, by household. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Internet at home · share of households
Nearly one in ten households live in a flat or apartment, against 12% across Ireland’s towns. Every 7th household or so has no car or van. For Portlaoise, the census puts holiday homes at 0.2%.
€57,470 a year: where the middle household sits
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Portlaoise’s households have a gross income above €57,470 a year and half below, close to the median for Ireland (€60,120). Across Co. Laois the median is €59,520.
29% of residents were born outside Ireland, more than in 75% of Irish towns
Place of birth and citizenship as CSO asks them: born abroad includes Irish citizens born abroad.
Born abroad, by birthplace · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
Citizens of another country, by citizenship; CSO counts dual Irish citizens as Irish.
Other languages · share of all residents
CSO’s small-area tables don’t give the year people arrived.
The figure for residents with another country’s citizenship is 21% in Portlaoise and 15% across Ireland’s towns. As a reference point, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born outside the EU and UK (9.8%) and elsewhere in the EU (7.9%).
Irish speakers make up 36% of Portlaoise
Residents aged 3 and over who can speak Irish, and how often they speak it outside education (CSO).
Irish speakers · residents aged 3 and over
Speakers of Irish: 7,334 residents, 36% of those aged 3 and over. Few places have so few daily speakers of Irish outside education: 0.9% here, fewer than in nearly two thirds of Irish towns.
A lower share of residents with no religion than 76% of Irish towns, at 13%
Ethnic or cultural background and religion, in CSO’s categories, as people described themselves.
Ethnic groups other than White Irish · all residents
White Irish, not charted: 65% of Portlaoise · Co. Laois’ towns 84% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White Irish, the biggest groups are Other White (19%), Asian or Asian Irish (5.9%) and Black or Black Irish (5%). Few places have so few residents who said they are Catholic: 70% here, fewer than in 58% of Irish towns. The share of residents with no religion across Ireland’s towns is 17%.
Half of adults have never married
Marital status of residents 15 and over, and unpaid carers.
Partnership status · residents 15 and over
The small-area tables count carers, not their hours of care.
On the census count, 5.2% of residents give unpaid care. 34% of residents 15 and over are married, a lower share than in 58% of Irish towns.
In Portlaoise, 31% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 64% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
A postgraduate qualification is the highest level for one in ten adults; primary level or less for 9% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Across the comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Among 41 towns of 18,239 to 27,923 people, the 13th youngest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At the ends of the range sit Jobstown (32.4), the youngest, and Beaumont (42.9), the oldest. Nearest to Portlaoise in age: Lucan (35.7), Letterkenny (35.7), Carlow (36.3) and Athlone (36.4).
Among its 5 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Portlaoise
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portlaoise | 23,494 | — | 35.9 | 9.5% | 50% |
| Mountmellick | 4,905 | 8.8 km | 37.6 | 14% | 49% |
| Stradbally | 1,404 | 10.6 km | 43.4 | 21% | 41% |
| Mountrath | 2,070 | 12.8 km | 35.8 | 13% | 47% |
| Abbeyleix | 1,897 | 14.3 km | 41.4 | 18% | 43% |
| Portarlington | 9,288 | 15.1 km | 36.4 | 10% | 50% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Laois’ towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Laois has fewer than five towns of 2,500 or more, so its figure is the median of its towns of 1,000 or more; the national figure is the median of the Irish towns of 2,500 or more (city totals left out). Percentiles are within Ireland only.
- The earlier population is an estimate. Towns had no official 2016 count on today’s boundaries, so the 2016 figure is CSO’s electoral-division count shared out by where people lived in 2022: read a small town in a large rural division loosely.
- What these tables don’t give. The small-area tables give no year of arrival and no hours of care, and a town’s electoral divisions run past its edge, so the page doesn’t split a town into named areas (a city lists its neighbourhoods).
- The census’s own words. Born abroad, citizenship, ethnic or cultural background and religion are CSO’s questions and categories; the page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Portlaoise’s residents
What is the population of Portlaoise?
Portlaoise had 23,494 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Portlaoise?
The median age is 35.9, younger than 71% of Irish towns. 28% are under 18 and 9.5% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Portlaoise?
36% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (7,334 people), and 0.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Portlaoise?
65% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 29% were born abroad and 21% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Portlaoise?
70% are Catholic, 13% have no religion and 17% another religion; 9.2% didn’t say.
Is Portlaoise good for families?
50% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 28% of residents are under 18. Schools near Portlaoise are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Portlaoise?
Median gross household income in Portlaoise was €57,470 in 2022, against €59,520 across Co. Laois and €60,120 for Ireland.
Sources: CSO, Census of Population 2022, Small Area Population Statistics · CSO PxStat FP009 (2016 by electoral division) · CSO GPIIA, household income 2022. 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).