Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 44,135 in Co. Louth. Its population rose 10% from 2016 to 2022.
Housing is expensive (C): a median €350,000 buys a home here, 6.2 years of what the median household earns. With a C− overall, Drogheda is better than 17% of Irish towns and ranks #267 of 320 Irish towns. Natural hazards are few (A−): an estimated 1% of homes are above the radon reference level. It lags on jobs & income as well — jobs reach 65% of 15 to 64s, and unemployment is 11%.
Figures: radon, EPA · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · work, CSO Census 2022.
The one thing Drogheda does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Drogheda with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
324 buildings on the National Inventory inside Drogheda, 6 of them of national importance.
The record adds 105 archaeological sites.
Homes built before 1919: 5%, against 3% across Irish towns.
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Drogheda. Best known first.
MuseumMillmount Fortin town
CastleTermonfeckin Castle4.7 km outside town, to the northeast
CastleDardistown Castle3.1 km outside town, to the southeastArt galleryArt galleryHighlanes Galleryin townArt galleryArt galleryDroichead Arts Centrein townHistoric houseHistoric houseMagdalene Towerin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Drogheda.
The nearest bathing water to Drogheda is Laytown/Bettystown, 7.4 km away, rated excellent in 2025. Radon tests would find about 1.1% of the town’s homes above the reference level, by estimate.
| Share of homes | Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near a river | 1.6% | – | 0.5% |
| On high landslide susceptibility | under 0.1% | – | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Within 3 km of Drogheda there are 29 schools (19 primary schools, 8 secondary schools and 2 special schools). DEIS, the support scheme, covers 28% of them, lower than Irish towns (35%). Sacred Heart Secondary School is the nearest secondary school, 0.5 km away.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Marys Parish Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 967 | Catholic |
| St Oliver's Community College DEISLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · ETB | Post-primary · ETB | 1,422 | Multi-denominational |
| Gaelscoil an Bhradáin Feasa GaelscoilTeaches through IrishPrimary | Primary | 383 | Multi-denominational |
| St Brigid's and St Patrick's National School DEISIn the DEIS schemePrimary | Primary | 575 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the DEIS scheme | 28% | – | 35% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +7% | – | +4% |
| Teach through Irish | 7% | – | 8% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · No school here carries a letter or a result: Ireland publishes neither for individual schools.
A buyer in Drogheda paid 88% more for a typical home in 2025 than in 2010: €373K against €198K. 65% of households own their home, above Irish towns (61%). Private renters make up a fifth of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| New homes | €375,000 | 1,138 |
| Second-hand homes | €266,000 | 1,252 |
| The last 12 months | €385,000 | 921 |
| Housing | Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households owning their home | 65% | – | 61% |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €1,454 | – | €1,606 |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Working from home was the norm for 8.8% of workers at the census. 11% of the labour force were unemployed, higher than Irish towns (9.2%). Also worth knowing: the census found just over a quarter of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
| Census 2022 | Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 31.1 min | – | 27.6 min |
| Unemployment rate | 11% | – | 9.2% |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 65% | – | 68% |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 33% | – | 31% |
CSO, Census 2022 travel to work, work and education · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · Live Register · Census day was 3 April 2022, with working from home still common; shares are of those who travelled.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more incidents per resident: they are counted where they happen, not where victims live.
Among the graded crimes in Drogheda, the most frequent was damage to property (2023–2025). Homes saw 7 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, higher than Irish towns (6.4). Violent crime runs at 6.3 per 1,000 residents a year.
Not in the gradeTheft, public order and offences found by Garda checks (drugs, road traffic, dangerous acts) are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence, burglary and damage.
| Per 1,000 a year | Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary & damage | 7 | – | 6.4 |
| Violent crime | 6.3 | – | 5.7 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
Asked at the census, 87% of residents of Drogheda said they were in good or very good health. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 2.4% of the town. For its ages, Drogheda has 109 people with a disability for every 100 expected, close to Irish towns (106).
| Census 2022 | Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad or very bad health | 2.4% | – | 2% |
| Good or very good health | 87% | – | 88% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Drogheda gets 817 mm of rain a year. November is the wettest month in the town, with 86 mm of rain on average. The nearest weather station is Dunsany, 30 km away.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain a year | 817 mm | – | 937 mm |
| July high | 19.8°C | – | 19.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Across its 4 parks, Drogheda has 51 ha of green space. Among the protected sites near Drogheda is Boyne Coast. Its paths and tracks come to 1.0 km per km², lower than Irish towns (2.1 km per km²).
| Outdoors | Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paths per km² of town | 1.0 km per km² | – | 2.1 km per km² |
| Sea within 5 km | 5.5% | – | 0% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 3.8% | – | 1.8% |
| Woodland within 1 km | 1.8% | – | 2.7% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Rain peaks later in the week on Saturday, at about 7 mm for the day. For Drogheda, a normal November afternoon peaks at 11°C, and a normal night bottoms out at 5°C. Around 2 mm of rain is due today, on a breeze of up to 35 km/h, with a low of 10°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 3°C | 207 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 6°C | 173 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 11°C | 204 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 8°C | 234 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
People aged 15 to 24 make up 13% of the town. Foreign-born residents make up 25% of the population. 20% are under 15, about level with Irish towns (20%).
Women make up 50.9% of Drogheda
22,458 women and 21,677 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | – | 20% |
| 15–24 | 13% | – | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | – | 29% |
| 45–64 | 25% | – | 24% |
| 65+ | 13% | – | 14% |
| Primary or none | 13% | – | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 15% | – | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 36% | – | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 6.2% | – | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 30% | – | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Louth and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
There is no majority on Louth County Council; Sinn Féin have the most seats, 7 of 29, short of 15. Drogheda spans more than one of the local electoral areas: 65% of its residents vote in Drogheda Urban, most of the rest in Laytown-Bettystown (Meath County). General election turnout: 61%, higher than Irish towns (59%).
| Turnout | Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| General election, November 2024 | 61% | – | 59% |
| Local elections, June 2024 | 47% | – | 46% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
The Sites and Monuments Record lists 105 sites here, higher than Irish towns (11). Per 10,000 residents, Drogheda counts 73 inventory buildings. 4.5% of homes date from before 1919.
| Heritage | Drogheda | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archaeological sites on the record | 105 | – | 11 |
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 73 | – | 48 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Drogheda’s built heritage counts 324 inventory entries; 6 carry national or international standing. Archaeologists have recorded 105 sites here.
96 notable people were born in Drogheda.
Steve Staunton: Jonesy702, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Colin O'Donoghue: vagueonthehow from Tadcaster, York, England, CC BY 2.0 · Mairead McGuinness: Photographer: Christophe Licoppe, CC BY 4.0 · Ian Harte: Jon Candy, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Tony Byrne: Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Eamonn Campbell: Jim McCann, CC BY 2.5
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drogheda | 44,135 | — | C− | C | C | C+ |
| Tullyallen | 1,697 | 5.3 | — | C− | C | A− |
| Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney Meath | 15,642 | 5.9 | C+ | B | C | B− |
| Termonfeckin | 1,983 | 7.5 | — | C− | C | C+ |
| Duleek Meath | 4,899 | 7.9 | B+ | A− | A− | B− |
| Stamullen Meath | 3,720 | 11 | B+ | B+ | C | A |
| Clogherhead | 2,275 | 11 | — | C+ | A | B− |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
Drogheda had 44,135 people at the 2022 census, up from 40,163 in 2016: 9.9% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Drogheda is 37.8, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns. 20% of residents are under 15 and 13% are 65 or over.
9% mostly work from home, and 33% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Urban area in Co. Louth
44,135 people live in Drogheda, in the area of Louth County Council. TownRatings uses the CSO’s 2022 Urban Areas as Ireland’s towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a county or a council area, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from Tailte Éireann’s boundaries and the CSO’s Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0)
Sources: CSO, Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics (CC BY 4.0) · Tailte Éireann, Urban Areas and Electoral Divisions 2022 (CC BY 4.0) · TownRatings grades, run #544 (Irish towns only). 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).