How Bruff works: jobs, income and commuting
Out of work at the 2022 census: 8.7% of the labour force in Bruff (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). 6.1% of trips from Bruff last an hour or longer; the mean is 26.9 minutes. There is no Jobs & income Grade for Bruff: it has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts.
What stands out about work in Bruff
Work near the middle
68% of people aged 15 to 64 in Bruff had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
8.7% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 2.4% 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.
Work and pay in Bruff, ungraded
Bruff has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts. The figures on this page are still its own.
Jobs held by Bruff’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 2.7%.
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.
In Bruff, 68% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 15 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Limerick, 12 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 2.4% of people aged 15 and over. Put another way, 49% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 52% 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 middle household in Bruff: €52,380 a year
Before tax, 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760.
That puts Bruff 6% below the median for County Limerick as a whole, €55,952. 6 of the county’s 15 towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €46,480. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 15% above Bruff’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
One way or another, 12% of Bruff’s commuters skip the car
The middle of Irish towns has 10% walking and 2.4% cycling; here it is 9% and 1.4%. For 81% of commuters, the trip to work is by car or van. Home is the main workplace for 7%, where the middle of Irish towns has 11%. The bus takes 1.1% of commuters, against 6% in the middle of Irish towns.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
No quicker, no slower: the trip to work or school from Bruff against the middle of Irish towns
The middle of County Limerick has 57% of trips at 15 to 44 minutes; here it is 55%, the commonest length. Across County Limerick, the middle town’s trips average 23 minutes. In County Limerick, 15 of 15 towns counted average a shorter trip. Under 15 minutes: 34% of trips, next to 37% in the middle of County Limerick.
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.
8% fewer people sign on in County Limerick than in 2019
11,541 people were signing on in County Limerick in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count fell by 1%. Its lowest month since 2019 was March 2025, at 10,525. County Limerick: signing on peaked in July 2019 at 14,661, 12% 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).
What adults in Bruff do: 52% are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 8% are full-time students (against 11%), 19% are retired (against 15%) and 8.4% are long-term sick or disabled (against 4.7%).
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
Walking to the shops, school and post office in Bruff
Not graded: the Walkability grade starts at 1,000 residents.
Of the everyday places, a food shop is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (0%).
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.
How the places next to Bruff compare on work
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruff | 68% | 8.7% | €52K | 26.9 min | — | — |
| Kilmallock 8.6 km | 63% | 13% | €40K | 23.1 min | C− | B |
| Croom 12.7 km | 66% | 9.6% | €56K | 20.9 min | B | B+ |
| Caherconlish 13.8 km | 67% | 7.5% | €54K | 27 min | B− | C− |
| Charleville 16.6 km | 63% | 11% | €43K | 24.7 min | C | C |
| Dooradoyle 18.7 km | 72% | 6.1% | €72K | 23.5 min | A | 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 Bruff, 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 Bruff
What is the unemployment rate in Bruff?
8.7% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 2.4% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
How do people in Bruff get to work?
81% of commuters go by car or van, 9% walk, 1.4% cycle and 1.1% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 7% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Bruff?
Trips to work, school or college take 26.9 minutes on average; 6.1% take an hour or more and 34% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Bruff?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Bruff’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Bruff 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 Bruff travel and how long their trips take.
Sources: CSO Census 2022 SAPS · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · CSO Live Register (LRM07) · OpenStreetMap (ODbL). 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).