Photo: Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.0A holiday town: 9.9% of homes are holiday homes
Compared with 12% across Ireland’s towns, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 here. There were 2,510 households in Westport at the 2022 Census, home to 6,872 residents. Locally, 31% of households are one person living alone. Fewer households of parents with children than in 79% of Irish towns: 35%.
What stands out about the people of Westport
One home in 10 is a holiday home
About 320 of 3,260 homes were empty holiday homes on Census night (9.9%), more than in 99% of Irish towns; 10% were vacant. Homes & cars ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Westport’s residents are under 41.3 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 20% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Growth of +8% since 2016 puts Westport ahead of 50% of Irish towns
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.
A median age of 41.3: Westport is older than 86% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 35–39 than any other five-year age: 7.9% of residents. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 89% of Irish towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Westport, 41.3. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 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.
Only 7.2% of residents 15 and over are students in Westport
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
7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns, against 9.3% in Westport. By way of comparison, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Smaller households than 86% of Irish towns: 2.4 people on average
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 6.2%, against 4.7% across Ireland’s towns.
A town of flats: 20% of households live in one
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
86% have broadband at home and 11% no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). As a yardstick, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. Across Westport, 18% of households have no car or van.
Household income at the median: €49,980 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €49,980 a year before tax, the median household income is 17% under that of Ireland (€60,120). Co. Mayo comes in at €48,670 at the median.
24% of residents were born outside Ireland, a share 57% of Irish towns don’t reach
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.
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the UK (9.1%) and outside the EU and UK (5.3%). The share of residents born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns is 22%. Westport sits close to the norm on residents with another country’s citizenship: 15%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns.
In Westport, 42% 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
Westport sits close to the norm on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.2%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. 2,597 residents, 42% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. It is the highest share of Co. Mayo’s 6 towns of 2,500+.
Above 67% of Irish towns: 74% of residents said they are Catholic
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: 81% of Westport · Co. Mayo’s towns 69% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns, against 81% in Westport. Leading the other groups after White Irish: Other White (14%), Other, including mixed (2.4%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.7%). The benchmark for residents who said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns: 71%.
Above 54% of Irish towns: 35% of residents 15 and over are 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.
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 5.7%, from 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 38% in Westport, more than in 57% 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 14% of adults; primary level or less for 9.4% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). As a reference point, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Of 41 towns its size (5,851 to 7,941 people), the 7th oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Ages run from 25.6 in Gillabbey to 45.1 in Perrystown. Nearest to Westport in age: The Glen (40.6), Baldoyle (40.9), Ayrfield (41.7) and Kinsale (41.8).
The places around Westport
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westport | 6,872 | — | 41.3 | 20% | 35% |
| Castlebar | 13,054 | 16.4 km | 38.7 | 16% | 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 Westport’s residents
What is the population of Westport?
Westport had 6,872 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Westport?
The median age is 41.3, older than 86% of Irish towns. 21% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Westport?
42% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (2,597 people), and 1.2% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Westport?
81% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 24% were born abroad and 15% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Westport?
74% are Catholic, 18% have no religion and 7.7% another religion; 6.9% didn’t say.
Is Westport good for families?
35% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near Westport are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Westport?
Median gross household income in Westport was €49,980 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).