Photo: C Michael Hogan · CC BY-SA 2.0Foxford is older than 99% of Irish towns: a median age of 45.4
Two in five households are one person living alone; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 24%. At the 2022 Census, 1,452 people lived in Foxford, in 636 households. Locally, 6.1% of homes are holiday homes. Few places have as many residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 86% here, more than in 81% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Foxford
Older than most towns
Half of Foxford’s residents are under 45.4 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 25% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
From 2016 to 2022, 57% of Irish towns grew faster than Foxford: +6%
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.
The median across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Mayo’s towns +9%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 98% of Irish towns: 25%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 12%. By way of comparison, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Mayo 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Foxford ranks below 99% of Irish towns on students among residents 15 and over: 6.3%
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
Compared with a typical 11%, skilled trades account for 16% of workers. Against that, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns. 6.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Foxford households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 96% 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.
Households of parents with children: 33%, below just over four fifths of Irish towns. Here, 2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
In Foxford, 6.1% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 83% 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
Here 16% of households have no car or van, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 17%. The benchmark for households in flats across Ireland’s towns: 12%.
€42,130 a year: where the middle household sits
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 €42,130, 30% lower than across Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Mayo as a whole, the figure is €48,670.
A smaller share of residents with another country’s citizenship than 75% of Irish towns: 10%
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.
Another language is spoken at home by 11%, most often Polish (4.3%); 1.3% speak English not well or not at all. Fewer residents born outside Ireland than in nearly two thirds of Irish towns: 19%. By way of comparison, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
Irish: 41% of Foxford’s residents can speak it
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
Speakers of Irish: 534 residents, just over two fifths of those aged 3 and over. More daily speakers of Irish outside education than in 73% of Irish towns: 1.4%.
Foxford sits above 96% of Irish towns for residents who said they are Catholic (83%)
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: 86% of Foxford · Co. Mayo’s towns 69% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 12% here and 17% across Ireland’s towns. Across the comparison, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (11%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.8%) and Other, including mixed (1.4%).
6.4% of residents give unpaid care, a share 87% of Irish towns don’t reach
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.
36% of residents 15 and over are married (Ireland’s towns: 34%). The share of unpaid carers across Ireland’s towns is 5.4%.
29% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 68% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, 7.9% of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 15% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Every nearby town is younger than Foxford
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foxford | 1,452 | — | 45.4 | 25% | 33% |
| Swinford | 1,459 | 11.7 km | 44.1 | 24% | 34% |
| Ballina | 10,556 | 14.7 km | 39.5 | 17% | 42% |
| Kiltimagh | 1,232 | 16.7 km | 41.4 | 18% | 37% |
| Castlebar | 13,054 | 18.6 km | 38.7 | 16% | 38% |
| Crossmolina | 1,134 | 18.9 km | 41.8 | 19% | 38% |
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 Foxford’s residents
What is the population of Foxford?
Foxford had 1,452 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Foxford?
The median age is 45.4. 19% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Foxford?
41% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (534 people), and 1.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Foxford?
86% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 19% were born abroad and 10% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Foxford?
83% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 5.1% another religion; 5% didn’t say.
Is Foxford good for families?
33% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 19% of residents are under 18. Schools near Foxford are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Foxford?
Median gross household income in Foxford was €42,130 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).