Photo: Sottobosco90 · CC BY-SA 4.0Above 93% of Irish towns: 3% of homes are holiday homes
85% of residents said they are Catholic; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 71%. At the 2022 Census Ballina was home to 10,556 people in 4,167 households. Across Ballina, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Higher than in 92% of Irish towns: 32% of households are one person living alone.
From 2016 to 2022, 84% of Irish towns grew faster than Ballina: +2%
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 typical town changed +8%; across Co. Mayo’s towns, +9%.
Older than 73% of Irish towns: half of Ballina is over 39.5
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 11%, Ballina is behind 80% of Irish towns on that count. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 76% of Irish towns. No age band is larger than 40–44: 7.7% of residents.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Ballina, 39.5. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Mayo 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
8.3% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer than in 90% 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
Where 7.8% is typical, process, plant and machine operatives take in just over one in ten workers. Residents who moved in within the year account for 5.8%. For comparison, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Households here average 2.5 people, below 75% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Mayo’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
For Ballina, the census puts households of parents with children at 42%.
7.2% of households live in a flat or apartment, below 79% of Irish towns
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
At home, 84% have broadband, while 14% have no internet access (typical: 7.6%). Compared with other places, households without a car or van are common here: 22%, more than in 72% of Irish towns. Set beside that, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
Half of households earn more than €43,600 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Gross household income has a median of €43,600 a year here, 27% below Ireland (€60,120). That compares with €48,670 across Co. Mayo.
Only 9.4% of residents are citizens of another country in Ballina
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 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
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.
18% of residents were born outside Ireland (Ireland’s towns: 22%). The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the UK (7.6%) and in Poland (4.3%). Elsewhere, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
In Ballina, 36% of residents 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
In all, 3,552 residents aged 3 and over (36%) can speak Irish. 0.9% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 65% of Irish towns.
Below 95% of Irish towns: 9.6% of residents said they have no religion
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: 82% of Ballina · Co. Mayo’s towns 69% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish is 78%; Ballina has 82%. For comparison, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. After White Irish, the most common groups are Other White (9.4%), Irish Traveller (4.5%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.9%).
32% of residents 15 and over are married, below 67% of Irish towns
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.
At 6.3%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 26% in Ballina, less than in 75% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
A postgraduate qualification is the highest level for 7.6% of adults; primary level or less for 14% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). The share of adults with a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns is 36%.
In its size band (9,288 to 12,310), the 17th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Ages run from 30.5 in Summerhill to 44.7 in Foxrock. Nearest to Ballina in age: Kilmore (39), Finglas North (39.4), Terenure (39.6) and Palmerston (40.4).
Every neighbour of Ballina has an older population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballina | 10,556 | — | 39.5 | 17% | 42% |
| Crossmolina | 1,134 | 10.8 km | 41.8 | 19% | 38% |
| Enniscrone | 1,291 | 11.8 km | 46.3 | 27% | 32% |
| Foxford | 1,452 | 14.7 km | 45.4 | 25% | 33% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Mayo’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Mayo’s towns of 2,500 or more and over 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 Ballina’s residents
What is the population of Ballina?
Ballina had 10,556 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballina?
The median age is 39.5, older than 73% of Irish towns. 25% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballina?
36% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (3,552 people), and 0.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballina?
82% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 18% were born abroad and 9.4% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballina?
85% are Catholic, 9.6% have no religion and 5.8% another religion; 2.7% didn’t say.
Is Ballina good for families?
42% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballina are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballina?
Median gross household income in Ballina was €43,600 in 2022, against €48,670 across Co. Mayo 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).