Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 43,112 residents, it is a town in Co. Louth. Its heritage includes 378 buildings on the national inventory.
A tough set of grades. The local economy is weaker than most: 62% of working-age residents are employed, with an unemployment rate of 14%. Dundalk’s overall grade of C− puts it better than 17% of Irish towns, #266 of 320 Irish towns. Police record more crime here than in most towns: for every 1,000 residents, gardaí record 7.2 violent crimes and 9.2 burglaries or acts of criminal damage a year. Home prices sit at a median €280,000, which is 5.7 years of the town’s median household income. Hazard risk is higher than most: an estimated nearly one in ten homes are above the radon reference level. Its other grades sit near the middle: C+ for health and B− for walkability.
Figures: work, health and commuting, CSO Census 2022 · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025 · radon, EPA · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO.
The 3 things Dundalk does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Dundalk 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 →
378 buildings on the National Inventory inside Dundalk, 2 of them of national importance.
The record adds 135 archaeological sites.
Homes built before 1919: 7%, against 3% across Irish towns.
Dundalk, Maryland, is named after Dundalk.
USUS editionDundalk, Maryland, settled in 1856, takes its name from this large town.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Dundalk. Best known first.
MuseumCounty Museum Dundalkin town
CastleCastle Roche4.2 km outside town, to the northwest
Abbey or prioryDromiskin Monastery3.3 km outside town, to the southArt galleryArt galleryAn Táin Arts Centrein townHistoric houseHistoric houseBlackrock Boathousein townNatural landscapeNatural landscapeBlackrock Wetlandsin 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 Dundalk.
16% of homes stand low near the coast, above Irish towns (0%).
| Share of homes | Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near the coast | 16% | – | 0% |
| Low-lying near a river | 43% | – | 0.5% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
62% of 15 to 64s were in work, lower than Irish towns (68%). A trip to work takes 25.7 min on average. Household income averages €48,907 a year before tax.
| Census 2022 | Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 14% | – | 9.2% |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 62% | – | 68% |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 44% | – | 31% |
| Median household income | €48,907 | – | €57,760 |
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.
For its size, Dundalk records more crime per resident than 70% of the 118 Irish towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Damage to property topped the graded crimes in Dundalk (2023–2025). Also worth knowing: in all, 69 crimes per 1,000 residents were recorded a year, above Irish towns (54.3).
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 | Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary & damage | 9.2 | – | 6.4 |
| All recorded crime | 69 | – | 54.3 |
| Violent crime | 7.2 | – | 5.7 |
| Theft | 20.2 | – | 15.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
A quarter of the secondaries are single-sex, below Irish towns (39%). Coláiste Chú Chulainn is the nearest secondary school, 0.8 km away. Families in Dundalk have 31 schools within 3 km to choose from: 22 primary schools, 8 secondary schools and 1 special school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Mhuire na nGael Special classesLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 624 | Catholic |
| St Vincent's Secondary School GirlsLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 928 | Catholic |
| Gaelscoil Dhun Dealgan GaelscoilTeaches through IrishPrimary | Primary | 214 | Catholic |
| Coláiste Chú Chulainn Irish streamIn the DEIS schemePost-primary · ETB | Post-primary · ETB | 885 | Multi-denominational |
| Schools within 3 km | Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teach through Irish | 3% | – | 8% |
| Single-sex secondaries | 25% | – | 39% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +9% | – | +4% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 39% | – | 35% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Ireland publishes no school-by-school results, which is why these cards have no letters.
Midwinter nights in Dundalk bottom out at 2.7°C on average. 851 mm of rain falls in a year, below Irish towns (937 mm). November is the wettest month here, with 90 mm of rain on average.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain a year | 851 mm | – | 937 mm |
| January low | 2.7°C | – | 2.9°C |
| July high | 19.8°C | – | 19.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 10.2°C | – | 10.3°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Within 5 km, 3.6% of the land is protected nature, higher than Irish towns (1.8%). There are 4 parks in Dundalk; together its green space comes to 82 ha. For 74% of homes, green space is under 400 m away. Among the protected sites near Dundalk is Dundalk Bay SAC.
| Outdoors | Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea within 5 km | 23% | – | 0% |
| Near a park | 74% | – | 92% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 3.6% | – | 1.8% |
| Woodland within 1 km | 1.7% | – | 2.7% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Degrees are held by 31% of adults, below Irish towns (36%). Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 14% of the town. What’s more, the share of residents under 15 is 21%.
Women make up 51.1% of Dundalk
22,021 women and 21,091 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | – | 20% |
| 15–24 | 14% | – | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | – | 29% |
| 45–64 | 23% | – | 24% |
| 65+ | 14% | – | 14% |
| Primary or none | 13% | – | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 16% | – | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 34% | – | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 5.8% | – | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 31% | – | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Louth and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Dundalk spans more than one of the local electoral areas: 68% of its residents vote in Dundalk South, most of the rest in Dundalk-Carlingford. There is no majority on Louth County Council; Sinn Féin have the most seats, 7 of 29, short of 15. Local elections drew 48% of voters to the polls last time.
| Turnout | Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| General election, November 2024 | 61% | – | 59% |
| Local elections, June 2024 | 48% | – | 46% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Scaled to its population, Dundalk has 88 inventory buildings per 10,000 people, higher than Irish towns (48). 135 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie in and around the town. The pre-1919 share of homes is 6.5%.
| Heritage | Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archaeological sites on the record | 135 | – | 11 |
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 88 | – | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 6.5% | – | 3.4% |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
At the census, 2.3% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, higher than Irish towns (2%). Asked at the census, 87% of residents of Dundalk said they were in good or very good health. Weighed against its ages, disability here runs at 107 per 100 expected.
| Census 2022 | Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad or very bad health | 2.3% | – | 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
Renting cost €1,394 a month on average, below Irish towns (€1,606). A buyer in Dundalk paid 71% more for a typical home in 2025 than in 2010: €320K against €188K. 20% of households are private tenants.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| New homes | €387,000 | 419 |
| Second-hand homes | €250,000 | 1,364 |
| The last 12 months | €335,000 | 677 |
| Housing | Dundalk | Co. Louth | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households in social housing | 19% | – | 13% |
| Median sale price | €280K | – | €350K |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €1,394 | – | €1,606 |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Dundalk’s built heritage counts 378 inventory entries; 2 carry national or international standing. Archaeologists have recorded 135 sites here.
71 notable people were born in Dundalk.
Andrea Corr: Charlie Brewer, CC BY-SA 2.0 · John Moore: Toglenn, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Leopold McClintock: Stephen Pearce, Public domain · Eamon Duffy: Fr James Bradley from Southampton, UK, CC BY 2.0 · Jon Gallagher: David, CC BY 2.0 · Dermot Ahern: State Department, Public domain
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundalk | 43,112 | — | C− | B− | C− | C+ |
| Dromiskin | 1,292 | 7.6 | — | C | A− | B |
| Castlebellingham-Kilsaran | 1,232 | 11 | — | B− | A− | C+ |
| Carlingford | 1,528 | 15 | — | C+ | B− | B+ |
| Ardee | 5,478 | 18 | C | B− | C | B− |
| Dunleer | 2,143 | 18 | — | B− | C− | C |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
The median age in Dundalk is 36.5, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
12% mostly work from home, and 44% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Urban area in Co. Louth
Dundalk has 43,112 people, 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).