Photo: C Michael Hogan · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 65% of residents describe themselves as White Irish in Ballinrobe
One-person households: 28%, above 69% of Irish towns. Ballinrobe had 3,148 residents in 1,157 households at the 2022 Census. In Ballinrobe, 14% of households have no car or van. At 11%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is lower than in 77% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Ballinrobe
A mix of backgrounds
35% of residents describe a background other than White Irish, more than in 85% of Irish towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (22%), Asian or Asian Irish (5.7%) and Irish Traveller (4.7%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
+9% since 2016, a pace 59% of Irish towns didn’t match
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.
Set beside +8% across Ireland’s towns and +9% across Co. Mayo’s towns.
Ballinrobe ranks below 56% of Irish towns on residents aged 65 and over: 13%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
With a median age of 37.6, Ballinrobe is younger than just over half of Irish towns. In Westport, the oldest of Co. Mayo’s towns by this measure, it is 20%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Ballinrobe, 37.6. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Mayo 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
29% of residents belong to the professional, managerial and technical classes
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
Workers here lean to skilled trades: 17%, against a typical 11%. On the census count, one in ten residents 15 and over are students. At 7.1%, the share of residents who moved in within the year is lower than in 55% of Irish towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 5.8% in Ballinrobe, more than in 61% 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.
Census figures put households of parents with children at 43% in Ballinrobe. A household here has 2.7 people on average; across Ireland’s towns, 2.7.
Ballinrobe ranks above 86% of Irish towns on holiday homes: 1.1%
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
Census figures put households in flats at 13% in Ballinrobe. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of holiday homes is 0.2%.
Half of households earn more than €50,130 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Ballinrobe’s households have a gross income below €50,130 a year, 17% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). Co. Mayo’s median household income is €48,670.
More residents born outside Ireland than 80% of Irish towns: 30%
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.
The figure for residents with another country’s citizenship is 22% in Ballinrobe and 15% across Ireland’s towns. At home, 28% use another language, chiefly Polish (11%), and 4.5% speak English not well or not at all.
Able to speak Irish: 36% in Ballinrobe
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
No town in Co. Mayo beats Castlebar (1.2%). Daily speakers of Irish outside education are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Irish towns.
Below 83% of Irish towns: 12% 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: 65% of Ballinrobe · Co. Mayo’s towns 69% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Here 75% of residents said they are Catholic, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 71%. The benchmark for residents with no religion across Ireland’s towns: 17%. The next-largest groups, after White Irish, are Other White (22%), Asian or Asian Irish (5.7%) and Irish Traveller (4.7%).
Half of adults have never married
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 4.7%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. The share of married residents 15 and over stands at 34%.
Only 29% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher in Ballinrobe
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, nearly one in ten adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 9.6% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. Against that, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Among 41 towns of 2,755 to 3,539 people, the 20th oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Ages run from 30.4 in Kilbarry to 45.5 in Ballybrack. Nearest to Ballinrobe in age: Carndonagh (37.4), Clara (37.6), Kanturk (37.9) and Gort (38).
Of the 2 towns nearest Ballinrobe, 1 are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballinrobe | 3,148 | — | 37.6 | 13% | 43% |
| Claremorris | 3,857 | 18.6 km | 37.4 | 13% | 38% |
| Headford | 1,235 | 19.0 km | 38.2 | 13% | 44% |
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 Ballinrobe’s residents
What is the population of Ballinrobe?
Ballinrobe had 3,148 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballinrobe?
The median age is 37.6, younger than 51% of Irish towns. 28% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballinrobe?
36% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (960 people), and 0.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballinrobe?
65% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 30% were born abroad and 22% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballinrobe?
75% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 13% another religion; 10% didn’t say.
Is Ballinrobe good for families?
43% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 28% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballinrobe are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballinrobe?
Median gross household income in Ballinrobe was €50,130 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).