Photo: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0Working-age people in Rathbane are less likely to have a job than in 94% of Irish towns
Unemployment in Rathbane stood at 14% at the 2022 census, next to 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. Rathbane grades C for jobs and income, #9 of 15 in County Limerick. Getting to work, school or college from Rathbane takes 22.1 minutes on average, with 3.3% taking an hour or more.
Work in Rathbane: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
58% of people aged 15 to 64 in Rathbane had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
14% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 4.1% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
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; 3.3% 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 & income in Rathbane: graded C
Its four measures together rank it better than 33% of Irish towns, #9 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.
Work for 58% of 15-to-64s in Rathbane
Of the 14 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Limerick, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
4.1% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 54% 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, 47% 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.
Getting to work or school from Rathbane takes less time than in the middle of Irish towns
The commonest trip is 15 to 44 minutes, for 57% of trips, much as in the middle of County Limerick. In County Limerick, 3 of 15 towns counted average a shorter trip. Short trips are about as common as in the middle of County Limerick, at 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.
The work of Rathbane’s residents, industry by industry
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 21% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, 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.
Household income in Rathbane: €54,140 a year
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 51% of Irish towns.
Rathbane’s median is 3% below County Limerick’s (€55,952). Of the county’s 14 other towns of 2,500 or more, 5 have a higher median. After tax, the median is €48,120. The State median is €60,123, 11% above Rathbane’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
The richest and poorest parts of Rathbane: €33K to €89K
Median gross household income in each of the 3 electoral divisions where 50 or more of Rathbane’s households live: the highest is 2.7 times the lowest. The share of people aged 15 to 64 in work runs from 47% in Rathbane to 75% in Roxborough.
| Electoral division | Households here | Median income (whole division) | Aged 15–64 in work (here) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rathbane | 682 | €33,217 | 47% |
| Limerick South Rural | 585 | €68,878 | 65% |
| Roxborough | 162 | €89,012 | 75% |
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022 (GPIIA01): each division’s median covers all its households, including any outside Rathbane; households and the share in work are Rathbane’s own part (Census 2022, CSO SAPS).
17% of commuters from Rathbane go without the car
As many walk or cycle to work as in the middle of Irish towns, near enough. The car or van carries most commuters: 74%. Working mainly from home: 8.7% here, 11% in the middle of Irish towns. By bus: 4.4% of commuters, next to 6% in the middle of Irish towns.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Signing on in Limerick city, against the 2019 level
4,943 people were signing on in Limerick city in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count 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. Limerick city: signing on peaked in July 2019 at 6,280, 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).
What adults in Rathbane do: 47% 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.
How walkable Rathbane is: C+
Better than 37% of Irish towns on two measures together, #12 of 15 in County Limerick.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 45%.
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.
Out of 92 Irish towns of 2,900 to 5,500, Rathbane comes 63rd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballinlough County Cork | 5,435 | 74% | 4.8% | €72K | A+ |
| 2 | Annacotty County Limerick | 3,398 | 71% | 6% | €90K | A+ |
| 3 | Glounthaune County Cork | 5,000 | 73% | 4.3% | €76K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | Ballinacurra County Limerick | 3,719 | 67% | 8.5% | €63K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 55 | Garryowen County Limerick | 5,428 | 61% | 11% | €51K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 61 | Ballyfermot County Dublin | 3,632 | 66% | 11% | €49K | C |
| 62 | Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) County Carlow | 2,945 | 62% | 11% | €44K | C |
| 63 | Rathbane County Limerick | 4,111 | 58% | 14% | €54K | C |
| 64 | Dangan County Galway | 4,621 | 45% | 11% | €50K | C |
| 65 | Kinnegad County Westmeath | 3,064 | 65% | 9.3% | €61K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 92 | Courtown County Wexford | 4,365 | 60% | 15% | €44K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Rathbane, and others in County Limerick.
How Rathbane compares with the places nearby
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathbane | 58% | 14% | €54K | 22.1 min | C | C+ |
| Prospect and Newtown Pery 1 km | 50% | 19% | €35K | 21 min | D | A |
| Galvone 1.2 km | 55% | 21% | €41K | 20.9 min | D | A− |
| Garryowen 1.7 km | 61% | 11% | €51K | 22.1 min | C+ | B |
| Dock 1.8 km | 63% | 13% | €42K | 23.8 min | C− | A |
| Limerick City Centre 2 km | 67% | 15% | €41K | 23.1 min | C | A+ |
| Ballinacurra 2 km | 67% | 8.5% | €63K | 23 min | B+ | 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 Rathbane, 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 Rathbane
What is the unemployment rate in Rathbane?
14% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 4.1% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Rathbane a good place to find work?
Rathbane earns a C for jobs and income, better than 33% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #9 of 15 in County Limerick.
How do people in Rathbane get to work?
74% of commuters go by car or van, 9.9% walk, 3% cycle and 4.5% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 8.7% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Rathbane?
Trips to work, school or college take 22.1 minutes on average; 3.3% take an hour or more and 37% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Rathbane?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Rathbane’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Rathbane 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 Rathbane 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).