Photo: Barry Hunter · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Rathkeale have lower incomes than those in 99% of Irish towns
On jobs and income together, Rathkeale grades D−. Unemployment in Rathkeale stood at 20% at the 2022 census (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). From Rathkeale, trips to work, school or college average 22.7 minutes, and 6.5% take an hour or more.
Where Rathkeale stands out on work
Fewer people in work than most towns
47% of people aged 15 to 64 in Rathkeale had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
20% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 4.6% 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 Rathkeale had €33,810 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 22.7 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 6.5% 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 Rathkeale earn D−
Better than 3% of Irish towns on four measures together.
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.
Ranks start at 2,500 residents, so this grade has no rank.
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.
Working-age people in Rathkeale: 47% have a job
Of the 15 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Limerick, 1 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
4.6% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 49% 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, 37% 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.
Before tax, the median household in Rathkeale has €33,810
Rathkeale’s median is 40% below County Limerick’s (€55,952). Every town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. After tax, the median is €32,330. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 78% above Rathkeale’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Less time on the road to work or school from Rathkeale than in the middle of Irish towns
The middle of County Limerick has 37% of trips under 15 minutes; here it is 53%. In County Limerick, 7 of 15 towns counted average a shorter trip.
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 Rathkeale does for a living
The second-largest is Manufacturing, at 16% (against 11% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 2.2%.
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.
27% of people travelling to work from Rathkeale walk, cycle or take the bus or train
Against 65% in the middle of County Limerick, 68% go by car or van. Against 11% in the middle of Irish towns, 3.9% work mainly from home. By bus: 2.3% of commuters, next to 6% in the middle of Irish towns. Walking takes 21% of commuters, where the middle of Irish towns has 10%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
The monthly count of people signing on in County Limerick
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 saw its highest month in July 2019: 14,661 people signing on, 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).
Rathkeale at work: 37% of adults have a job
Compared with Irish towns, 6.1% are full-time students (against 11%), 19% are retired (against 15%) and 13% 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.
Rathkeale earns B+ for walkability
Better than 66% of Irish towns on two measures together.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 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.
The work picture around Rathkeale
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathkeale | 47% | 20% | €34K | 22.7 min | D− | B+ |
| Askeaton 9.5 km | 55% | 15% | €51K | 22.5 min | C− | C− |
| Adare 10.6 km | 75% | 5.9% | €70K | 25 min | A+ | B |
| Newcastle West 11.2 km | 67% | 9.3% | €49K | 24.9 min | B− | B− |
| Croom 14.9 km | 66% | 9.6% | €56K | 20.9 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 Rathkeale, 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 Rathkeale
What is the unemployment rate in Rathkeale?
20% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 4.6% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Rathkeale a good place to find work?
Rathkeale earns a D− for jobs and income, better than 3% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Rathkeale get to work?
68% of commuters go by car or van, 21% walk, 3.3% cycle and 2.3% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 3.9% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Rathkeale?
Trips to work, school or college take 22.7 minutes on average; 6.5% take an hour or more and 53% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Rathkeale?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Rathkeale’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Rathkeale 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 Rathkeale 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).