Photo: David Hawgood · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Garryowen than in 89% of Irish towns
Out of work at the 2022 census: 11% of the labour force in Garryowen (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). For jobs and income, Garryowen earns a grade of C+, #7 of 15 in County Limerick. The trip to work, school or college averages 22.1 minutes from Garryowen, and 2.7% take an hour or more.
What sets Garryowen apart on jobs and income
Fewer people in work than most towns
61% of people aged 15 to 64 in Garryowen had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 22.1 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 2.7% 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.
On jobs and income, Garryowen grades C+
Better than 37% of Irish towns across four measures, #7 of 15 in County Limerick.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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 Garryowen, 61% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 14 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Limerick, 7 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 3.8% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 59% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 50% 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.
Against the middle of Irish towns, Garryowen has the shorter trip to work or school
Most often, a trip takes 15 to 44 minutes: 59%, against 57% in the middle of County Limerick. In County Limerick, 3 of 15 towns counted average a shorter trip. Short trips of under 15 minutes make up 35%, where the middle of County Limerick has 37%.
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.
What Garryowen does for a living
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 22% (against 25% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 0.1%.
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.
How much households earn in Garryowen: €50,710
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 61% of Irish towns.
That puts Garryowen 9% below the median for County Limerick as a whole, €55,952. Of the county’s 14 other towns of 2,500 or more, 7 have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €45,510. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 19% above Garryowen’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
21% of commuters in Garryowen go on foot, by bike or by public transport
Most go by car or van: 72% of commuters. The bus and rail carry about as many commuters as in the middle of Irish towns. Walking takes 13% of commuters, where the middle of Irish towns has 10%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
How many sign on in Limerick city: the count since 2019
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%. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 37 months. Its lowest month since 2019 was March 2025, at 4,514.
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).
Most of Garryowen works: 50% of adults are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 9.7% 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.
Walking in Garryowen earns B
Better than 64% of Irish towns on two measures together, #9 of 15 in County Limerick.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 19%.
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.
Ranked on jobs and income, Garryowen is 65th among 99 Irish towns of 3,800 to 7,300
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 52 | Newcastle West County Limerick | 7,209 | 67% | 9.3% | €49K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 63 | St Stephen's Green County Dublin | 5,319 | 65% | 11% | €56K | C+ |
| 64 | Fermoy County Cork | 6,720 | 65% | 10% | €50K | C+ |
| 65 | Garryowen County Limerick | 5,428 | 61% | 11% | €51K | C+ |
| 66 | Grange County Waterford | 4,109 | 64% | 13% | €46K | C |
| 67 | Duleek County Meath | 4,899 | 66% | 9.7% | €62K | C |
| 68 | Rathbane County Limerick | 4,111 | 58% | 14% | €54K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 83 | Dock County Limerick | 6,258 | 63% | 13% | €42K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 99 | Courtown County Wexford | 4,365 | 60% | 15% | €44K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Garryowen, and others in County Limerick.
Next to Garryowen: how nearby places compare
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garryowen | 61% | 11% | €51K | 22.1 min | C+ | B |
| Galvone 0.9 km | 55% | 21% | €41K | 20.9 min | D | A− |
| Prospect and Newtown Pery 1.7 km | 50% | 19% | €35K | 21 min | D | A |
| Rathbane 1.7 km | 58% | 14% | €54K | 22.1 min | C | C+ |
| Corbally and King's Island 1.7 km | 58% | 15% | €46K | 23 min | C− | B+ |
| Limerick City Centre 1.8 km | 67% | 15% | €41K | 23.1 min | C | A+ |
| Dock 2.3 km | 63% | 13% | €42K | 23.8 min | C− | A |
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 Garryowen, 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 Garryowen
What is the unemployment rate in Garryowen?
11% 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 Garryowen a good place to find work?
Garryowen earns a C+ for jobs and income, better than 37% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #7 of 15 in County Limerick.
How do people in Garryowen get to work?
72% of commuters go by car or van, 13% walk, 2.4% cycle and 6% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 6.9% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Garryowen?
Trips to work, school or college take 22.1 minutes on average; 2.7% take an hour or more and 35% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Garryowen?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Garryowen’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Garryowen 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 Garryowen 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).