Photo: C Michael Hogan · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Ballinrobe have lower incomes than those in 63% of Irish towns
On jobs and income together, Ballinrobe grades C+, #4 of 6 in County Mayo. From Ballinrobe, trips to work, school or college average 24.2 minutes, with 8% taking an hour or more. The 2022 census put unemployment in Ballinrobe at 11%, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns.
Work in Ballinrobe, in a few figures
Work near the middle
67% of people aged 15 to 64 in Ballinrobe had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 24.2 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 8% 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 Ballinrobe earn C+
Better than 43% of Irish towns across four measures, #4 of 6 in County Mayo.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the unemployment rate.
Graded against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more; a shorter trip and less unemployment count in its favor.
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.
The trip to work or school is shorter from Ballinrobe than in the middle of Irish towns
4 of the 6 towns of County Mayo counted have a shorter average trip. Against 55% in the middle of County Mayo, 50% of trips take under 15 minutes. In the middle of County Mayo, the trip averages 20.8 minutes.
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 the people of Ballinrobe do for work
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 20% (against 25% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 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.
In Ballinrobe, 67% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Mayo, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 3.9% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 56% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 55% 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.
The middle household in Ballinrobe: €50,125 a year
That puts Ballinrobe 3% above the median for County Mayo as a whole, €48,665. No other town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. Net of tax, it is €44,082. The State median is €60,123, 20% above Ballinrobe’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
16% of Ballinrobe’s trips to work are on foot, by bike or public transport
Against 10% and 2.4% in the middle of Irish towns, 13% walk and 0.9% cycle. 76% of commuters go by car or van. Buses carry 1% of commuters, where the middle of Irish towns has 6%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
The Live Register in County Mayo, month by month
4,861 people were signing on in County Mayo in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count fell by 3%. For 73 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. Ballinrobe office saw its highest month in June 2020: 578 people signing on, 20% 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.
People signing on each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Ballinrobe at work: 55% of adults have a job
The mix is close to Irish towns’ as a whole.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
On getting around on foot, Ballinrobe grades C−
Better than 23% of Irish towns on two measures together, #280 of 321 Irish towns.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a pharmacy: 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.
For jobs and income, Ballinrobe is 38th of 76 Irish towns of 2,500 to 4,200
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annacotty County Limerick | 3,398 | 71% | 6% | €90K | A+ |
| 2 | Grange Upper County Waterford | 2,510 | 71% | 7.4% | €65K | A |
| 3 | Riverstown County Cork | 3,664 | 70% | 5.1% | €83K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Claremorris County Mayo | 3,857 | 73% | 8.6% | €50K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Shandon County Cork | 3,539 | 71% | 11% | €44K | B− |
| 37 | Bantry County Cork | 2,929 | 67% | 10% | €38K | B− |
| 38 | Ballinrobe County Mayo | 3,148 | 67% | 11% | €50K | C+ |
| 39 | Moate County Westmeath | 3,013 | 67% | 11% | €53K | C+ |
| 40 | Skibbereen County Cork | 2,903 | 68% | 11% | €37K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 69 | Ballyhaunis County Mayo | 2,773 | 57% | 16% | €41K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 76 | Mayfield County Cork | 2,846 | 49% | 20% | €38K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Ballinrobe, and others in County Mayo.
How Ballinrobe compares with the places nearby
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballinrobe | 67% | 11% | €50K | 24.2 min | C+ | C− |
| Claremorris 18.6 km | 73% | 8.6% | €50K | 26.7 min | B | C |
| Headford 19 km | 71% | 9.3% | €59K | 27.6 min | B | D |
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 Ballinrobe, 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 Ballinrobe
What is the unemployment rate in Ballinrobe?
11% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3.9% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Ballinrobe a good place to find work?
Ballinrobe earns a C+ for jobs and income, better than 43% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #4 of 6 in County Mayo.
How do people in Ballinrobe get to work?
76% of commuters go by car or van, 13% walk, 0.9% cycle and 1.3% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 7.6% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Ballinrobe?
Trips to work, school or college take 24.2 minutes on average; 8% take an hour or more and 50% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Ballinrobe?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Ballinrobe’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Ballinrobe 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 Ballinrobe 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).