Photo: Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Dock have lower incomes than those in 87% of Irish towns
For jobs and income, Dock earns a grade of C−, #11 of 15 in County Limerick. 13% of the labour force in Dock was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. The mean journey from Dock lasts 23.8 minutes, and 4.4% exceed an hour.
What Dock’s work numbers say
Fewer people in work than most towns
63% of people aged 15 to 64 in Dock had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
13% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 4.3% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Dock had €41,650 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. CSO publishes no income figure for this place, so this one is our estimate from its electoral divisions. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 23.8 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 4.4% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Jobs and income in Dock earn C−
Its four measures together rank it better than 18% of Irish towns, #11 of 15 in County Limerick.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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.
Jobs for 63% of people aged 15 to 64 in Dock
Of the 14 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Limerick, 8 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
4.3% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 50% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. 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.
Half the households here have more than €41,650 a year
Dock’s median is 26% below County Limerick’s (€55,952). Of the county’s 14 other towns of 2,500 or more, 10 have a higher median. After tax, the median is €37,710. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 44% above Dock’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
The trip to work or school is shorter from Dock than in the middle of Irish towns
59% of trips take 15 to 44 minutes, where the middle of County Limerick has 57%. Of the 15 towns of County Limerick counted, 11 have a shorter average trip. The middle of County Limerick has 37% of trips under 15 minutes; here it is 34%.
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 work of Dock’s residents, industry by industry
Commerce and trade is the second-largest at 18%, against 26% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 0.2%.
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 Dock, household incomes run from €38K to €57K from one electoral division to the next
Median gross household income in each of the 4 electoral divisions where 50 or more of Dock’s households live: the highest is 1.5 times the lowest. The share of people aged 15 to 64 in work runs from 57% in Dock D to 68% in Dock B.
| Electoral division | Households here | Median income (whole division) | Aged 15–64 in work (here) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dock A | 1,207 | €38,205 | 63% |
| Dock B | 571 | €38,544 | 68% |
| Dock C | 483 | €45,537 | 66% |
| Dock D | 267 | €56,797 | 57% |
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022 (GPIIA01): each division’s median covers all its households, including any outside Dock; households and the share in work are Dock’s own part (Census 2022, CSO SAPS).
One way or another, 46% of Dock’s commuters skip the car
More people take the bus to work here than in the middle of County Limerick: 12% against 5.2%. The car or van takes 43% of commuters; the middle of County Limerick has 65%. Working mainly from home is about as common as in the middle of Irish towns, at 12%. The middle of Irish towns has 10% walking and 2.4% cycling; here it is 29% and 4.3%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
How the count signing on in Limerick city has moved
4,943 people were signing on in Limerick city in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 fell by 2%. For 37 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. Its lowest month since 2019 was March 2025, at 4,514. Limerick city saw its highest month in July 2019: 6,280 people signing on, 11% 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).
56% of adults in Dock are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 10% are retired (against 15%) and 6.7% 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.
Walkability in Dock: graded A
Better than 94% of Irish towns on two measures together, #2 of 15 in County Limerick.
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.
Among Irish towns of 4,400 to 8,400, Dock ranks 84th of 100 for jobs and income
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballinlough County Cork | 5,435 | 74% | 4.8% | €72K | A+ |
| 2 | Carrigtwohill County Cork | 5,568 | 73% | 5.5% | €71K | A+ |
| 3 | Oranmore County Galway | 5,819 | 79% | 5.9% | €80K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Farranshone County Limerick | 7,874 | 70% | 6.9% | €63K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 56 | Newcastle West County Limerick | 7,209 | 67% | 9.3% | €49K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 69 | Garryowen County Limerick | 5,428 | 61% | 11% | €51K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 82 | Temple Bar County Dublin | 7,276 | 63% | 12% | €52K | C− |
| 83 | Ballinasloe County Galway | 6,597 | 60% | 15% | €50K | C− |
| 84 | Dock County Limerick | 6,258 | 63% | 13% | €42K | C− |
| 85 | Ardee County Louth | 5,478 | 63% | 12% | €47K | C− |
| 86 | Birr County Offaly | 4,726 | 61% | 15% | €43K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 100 | Cherry Orchard County Dublin | 8,280 | 56% | 18% | €53K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Dock, and others in County Limerick.
The work picture around Dock
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dock | 63% | 13% | €42K | 23.8 min | C− | A |
| Limerick City Centre 0.7 km | 67% | 15% | €41K | 23.1 min | C | A+ |
| Prospect and Newtown Pery 0.8 km | 50% | 19% | €35K | 21 min | D | A |
| Ballinacurra 1.2 km | 67% | 8.5% | €63K | 23 min | B+ | B+ |
| Farranshone 1.4 km | 70% | 6.9% | €63K | 24.4 min | A− | B+ |
| Galvone 1.4 km | 55% | 21% | €41K | 20.9 min | D | A− |
| Rathbane 1.8 km | 58% | 14% | €54K | 22.1 min | C | 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 Dock, 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 Dock
What is the unemployment rate in Dock?
13% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 4.3% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Dock a good place to find work?
Dock earns a C− for jobs and income, better than 18% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #11 of 15 in County Limerick.
How do people in Dock get to work?
43% of commuters go by car or van, 29% walk, 4.3% cycle and 13% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 12% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Dock?
Trips to work, school or college take 23.8 minutes on average; 4.4% take an hour or more and 34% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Dock?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Dock’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Dock 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 Dock 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).