Photo: William Murphy from Dublin, Ireland · CC BY-SA 2.0In Drogheda, 47% of households are parents with children, more than in 69% of Irish towns
With households without a car or van at 20%, Drogheda is ahead of 64% of Irish towns on that count. 73% of residents describe themselves as White Irish. On residents aged 15 to 24, Drogheda sits higher than nearly two thirds of Irish towns: 13%. This Co. Louth town had 44,135 residents in 15,753 households at the 2022 Census, with a median age of 37.8 (older than 52% of Irish towns).
A +10% change since 2016: Drogheda grew faster than 63% of Irish towns
Residents at the 2016 and 2022 censuses, on 2022 boundaries, and the change beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Change, 2016 to 2022
CSO publishes yearly population estimates for counties and regions, not towns, so the trend is two censuses rather than a line; 2016 ages aren’t on 2022 boundaries, so there is no change by age.
Across Ireland’s towns the median change is +8%; across Co. Louth’s towns, +10%.
In Drogheda, 13% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 61% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 40–44 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. Half of Drogheda’s residents are over 37.8, older than in 52% of Irish towns. For comparison, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. In Castlebellingham-Kilsaran, the oldest of Co. Louth’s towns by this measure, it is 19%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Drogheda, 37.8. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Louth 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
Students among residents 15 and over: 11%, a higher share than 60% of Irish towns
CSO’s social classes (everyone, by their own or their family’s occupation), the occupations of those at work, and where residents lived a year before the Census.
Residents by social class · all residents
Where residents lived a year earlier
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Workers by occupation · residents at work
Just over a third of Drogheda’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 18% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Here, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
2.8 people per household, more than in 65% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Louth’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Census figures put one-person households at 23% in Drogheda. 4.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, about the same as across Ireland’s towns.
88% of homes are houses
Home types, cars and the internet, by household. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Internet at home · share of households
Nine in ten households are on broadband; 8.5% have no internet connection (typical: 7.6%). On the census count, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes.
Half of households earn more than €56,480 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Households here have a median gross income of €56,480, 6% lower than across Ireland (€60,120). Across Co. Louth, the middle household has €54,600.
Residents with another country’s citizenship: 18%, a higher share than 63% of Irish towns
Place of birth and citizenship as CSO asks them: born abroad includes Irish citizens born abroad.
Born abroad, by birthplace · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Citizens of another country, by citizenship; CSO counts dual Irish citizens as Irish.
Other languages · share of all residents
CSO’s small-area tables don’t give the year people arrived.
The largest groups were born outside the EU and UK (9%) and elsewhere in the EU (7.7%). The usual figure: 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Here 25% of residents were born outside Ireland, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 22%.
32% of Drogheda can speak Irish
Residents aged 3 and over who can speak Irish, and how often they speak it outside education (CSO).
Irish speakers · residents aged 3 and over
12,627 residents, nearly a third of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. On daily speakers of Irish outside education, 1% here is much the same as across Ireland’s towns.
15% of residents said they have no religion, below 64% of Irish towns
Ethnic or cultural background and religion, in CSO’s categories, as people described themselves.
Ethnic groups other than White Irish · all residents
White Irish, not charted: 73% of Drogheda · Co. Louth’s towns 86% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White Irish, are Other White (14%), Asian or Asian Irish (6.2%) and Black or Black Irish (4%). For comparison, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. The share of residents who said they are Catholic is 72%, against 71% across Ireland’s towns.
Drogheda ranks above 54% of Irish towns on married residents 15 and over: 35%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, and unpaid carers.
Partnership status · residents 15 and over
The small-area tables count carers, not their hours of care.
On the census count, 5.3% of residents give unpaid care. Typically, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Drogheda sits below 66% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (30%)
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
9.1% of Drogheda’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 13% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). For comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Among 41 towns of 18,608 to 44,135 people, the 17th oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At the ends of the range sit Jobstown (32.4), the youngest, and Beaumont (42.9), the oldest. Nearest to Drogheda in age: Carpenterstown (37.4), Newbridge (37.6), Old Bawn (38) and Ballincollig (38.1).
Drogheda is older than every town around it
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drogheda | 44,135 | — | 37.8 | 13% | 47% |
| Tullyallen | 1,697 | 5.3 km | 33.2 | 6.1% | 67% |
| Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney | 15,642 | 5.9 km | 36.8 | 10% | 53% |
| Termonfeckin | 1,983 | 7.5 km | 36 | 13% | 57% |
| Duleek | 4,899 | 7.9 km | 35.2 | 8.9% | 56% |
| Stamullen | 3,720 | 10.8 km | 34.4 | 5.3% | 63% |
| Clogherhead | 2,275 | 11.0 km | 36.6 | 8.7% | 56% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Louth’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Louth has fewer than five towns of 2,500 or more, so its figure is the median of its towns of 1,000 or more; the national figure is the median of the Irish towns of 2,500 or more (city totals left out). Percentiles are within Ireland only.
- The earlier population is an estimate. Towns had no official 2016 count on today’s boundaries, so the 2016 figure is CSO’s electoral-division count shared out by where people lived in 2022: read a small town in a large rural division loosely.
- What these tables don’t give. The small-area tables give no year of arrival and no hours of care, and a town’s electoral divisions run past its edge, so the page doesn’t split a town into named areas (a city lists its neighbourhoods).
- The census’s own words. Born abroad, citizenship, ethnic or cultural background and religion are CSO’s questions and categories; the page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Drogheda’s residents
What is the population of Drogheda?
Drogheda had 44,135 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 10% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Drogheda?
The median age is 37.8, older than 52% of Irish towns. 25% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Drogheda?
32% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (12,627 people), and 1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Drogheda?
73% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 25% were born abroad and 18% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Drogheda?
72% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 14% another religion; 7.9% didn’t say.
Is Drogheda good for families?
47% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Drogheda are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Drogheda?
Median gross household income in Drogheda was €56,480 in 2022, against €54,600 across Co. Louth and €60,120 for Ireland.
Sources: CSO, Census of Population 2022, Small Area Population Statistics · CSO PxStat FP009 (2016 by electoral division) · CSO GPIIA, household income 2022. 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).