Photo: Trounce · CC BY-SA 2.5A larger share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Ashbourne than in 91% of Irish towns
Out of work at the 2022 census: 6.6% of the labour force in Ashbourne (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). Ashbourne grades A for jobs and income, #1 of 12 in County Meath. The average trip to work, school or college from Ashbourne takes 29.2 minutes, with 11% taking an hour or more.
Ashbourne and work: the main findings
More people in work than most towns
74% of people aged 15 to 64 in Ashbourne had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
6.6% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 2.2% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household in Ashbourne had €77,553 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Ashbourne grades A for jobs and income
Better than 89% of Irish towns on four measures taken together, #1 of 12 in County Meath.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, trip times.
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.
Ashbourne at work: 74% of people aged 15 to 64
Of the 11 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Meath, 10 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 2.2% of people aged 15 and over. Put another way, 47% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 66% 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.
Household income in Ashbourne: €77,553 at the median
Before tax, 2022: higher than in 85% of Irish towns.
That puts Ashbourne 10% above the median for County Meath as a whole, €70,657. 5 of the county’s 11 other towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €63,812. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 22% below Ashbourne’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
The work of Ashbourne’s residents, industry by industry
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 0.3%.
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 Ashbourne, household incomes run from €78K to €94K from one electoral division to the next
Median gross household income in each of the 3 electoral divisions where 50 or more of Ashbourne’s households live: the highest is 1.2 times the lowest. The share of people aged 15 to 64 in work runs from 68% in Ratoath to 75% in Kilbrew.
| Electoral division | Households here | Median income (whole division) | Aged 15–64 in work (here) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donaghmore | 4,158 | €77,592 | 74% |
| Kilbrew | 769 | €77,609 | 75% |
| Ratoath | 85 | €94,409 | 68% |
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022 (GPIIA01): each division’s median covers all its households, including any outside Ashbourne; households and the share in work are Ashbourne’s own part (Census 2022, CSO SAPS).
Car-free commutes: 19% of workers in Ashbourne
By bus: 9.3% of commuters, next to 6% in the middle of Irish towns. The middle of County Meath has 4.3%; here, 8.2% walk. Against 74% in the middle of County Meath, 69% go by car or van. Mainly from home: 12% of residents in work, much as in the middle of Irish towns.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Ashbourne spends about as long getting to work or school as the middle of Irish towns
For the middle of County Meath, the average trip is 32.9 minutes. Among County Meath’s 12 towns counted, none averages a shorter trip. Trips of under 15 minutes are 33% of the total, against 29% in the middle of County Meath. 48% of trips take 15 to 44 minutes, where the middle of County Meath has 47%.
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.
How the count signing on in County Meath has moved
3,692 people were signing on in County Meath in September 2026. For 71 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. Its lowest month since 2019 was November 2024, at 3,559. County Meath: signing on peaked in July 2020 at 5,146, 14% 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. This place has no office of its own name, so the chart is its county’s or city’s.
People signing on each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
66% of adults in Ashbourne are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 10% are retired (against 15%) and 3% are long-term sick or disabled (against 4.7%).
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
The Walkability grade for Ashbourne: B−
Better than 48% of Irish towns on two measures together, #5 of 12 in County Meath.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a post office: 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, Ashbourne is 15th of 77 Irish towns of 11,000 to 21,200
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballsbridge County Dublin | 12,743 | 80% | 5.2% | €99K | A+ |
| 2 | Rathmines East County Dublin | 16,923 | 77% | 5.4% | €94K | A+ |
| 3 | Templeogue County Dublin | 18,076 | 75% | 4.8% | €87K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Ashtown County Dublin | 14,937 | 76% | 5.4% | €83K | A |
| 14 | Carpenterstown County Dublin | 20,967 | 73% | 5.4% | €98K | A |
| 15 | Ashbourne County Meath | 15,680 | 74% | 6.6% | €78K | A |
| 16 | Drumcondra County Dublin | 11,149 | 76% | 6.1% | €78K | A |
| 17 | Blackrock County Dublin | 12,816 | 69% | 5.4% | €97K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 57 | Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney County Meath | 15,642 | 69% | 8.7% | €69K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 77 | Summerhill County Dublin | 11,911 | 60% | 15% | €45K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Ashbourne, and others in County Meath.
Neighbouring places to Ashbourne, compared
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashbourne | 74% | 6.6% | €78K | 29.2 min | A | B− |
| Ratoath 4.2 km | 70% | 6% | €96K | 32.4 min | A− | C+ |
| Dunshaughlin 9.5 km | 75% | 6.1% | €88K | 34.7 min | A− | B− |
| Hollystown 10.3 km | 69% | 8.7% | €84K | 31.8 min | B | B− |
| Dunboyne 11.5 km | 70% | 5.4% | €89K | 31.4 min | A− | B |
| Clonee 11.8 km | 78% | 6% | €87K | 34.3 min | A | C+ |
| Mulhuddart 12.1 km | 65% | 12% | €65K | 32.2 min | C | B+ |
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 Ashbourne, 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 Ashbourne
What is the unemployment rate in Ashbourne?
6.6% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 2.2% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Ashbourne a good place to find work?
Ashbourne earns an A for jobs and income, better than 89% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #1 of 12 in County Meath.
How do people in Ashbourne get to work?
69% of commuters go by car or van, 8.2% walk, 1.1% cycle and 9.5% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 12% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Ashbourne?
Trips to work, school or college take 29.2 minutes on average; 11% take an hour or more and 33% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Ashbourne?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Ashbourne’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Ashbourne 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 Ashbourne 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).