Photo: Trounce · CC BY-SA 2.5Households of parents with children make up 56% in Ashbourne, more than in 93% of Irish towns
Households in Ashbourne hold 3.1 people on average (Ireland’s towns: 2.7). In 2022, the Census found 15,680 residents locally, living in 5,012 households. Across Ashbourne, 7.5% of households have no car or van. Fewer residents aged 65 and over than in 86% of Irish towns: 8.3%.
What stands out about the people of Ashbourne
A town of families
46% of households are couples with children and 9.8% lone parents with children, more than in 93% of Irish towns; 26% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing faster than most
Ashbourne went from about 13,170 people in 2016 to 15,680 in 2022, +19%: faster growth than in 88% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Since 2016, Ashbourne has grown +19%, faster than 88% 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.
For comparison, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +11% across Co. Meath’s towns.
Ashbourne is younger than 75% of Irish towns: a median age of 35.6
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
40–44 is the most common age band: just over one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. In Kells, the oldest of Co. Meath’s towns by this measure, it is 14%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Ashbourne, 35.6. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Meath 50.7%, Ireland 51.2%.
5.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 81% of Irish towns
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
Nothing unusual on students among residents 15 and over: 9.9%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. To put it in context, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
14% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 94% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Meath’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
2.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 4.7% across Ireland’s towns. The comparison figure for one-person households is 24% across Ireland’s towns.
18% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 73% 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
0.1% of homes are holiday homes, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. Measured more widely, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
€77,550 a year: the median household income
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Before tax, the middle household here has €77,550 a year, 29% more than the Ireland median (€60,120). For Co. Meath as a whole, the figure is €70,660.
In Ashbourne, 19% of residents are citizens of another country, more than in 69% of Irish towns
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 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
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 largest groups were born elsewhere in the EU (9.2%) and outside the EU and UK (8.2%). Measured more widely, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Compared with other places, residents born outside Ireland are common here: 26%, more than in 67% of Irish towns.
Ashbourne ranks above 77% of Irish towns on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.5%
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. Meath beats Athboy (2.4%). Across Ireland’s towns, daily speakers of Irish outside education come to 1.1%.
Only 71% of residents describe themselves as White Irish in Ashbourne
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: 71% of Ashbourne · Co. Meath’s towns 80% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
66% of residents said they are Catholic; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 71%. At 18%, the share of residents with no religion is higher than in 53% of Irish towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns is 78%. Leading the other groups after White Irish: Other White (20%), Asian or Asian Irish (3.9%) and Other, including mixed (3.3%).
39% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 83% 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.
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns: 4.5%. Set beside that, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
In Ashbourne, 38% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, more than in 55% 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, just over one in ten adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 6.2% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. Across the comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
41 towns of 13,390 to 18,460 people: this is the 10th youngest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Castletroy (29) and the oldest Ballinteer (44.1). Nearest to Ashbourne in age: Belmayne (33.8), Ballybane (34.1), Deansrath (35.7) and Darndale (36.1).
1 of the 6 nearest towns are older than Ashbourne
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashbourne | 15,680 | — | 35.6 | 8.3% | 56% |
| Ratoath | 10,077 | 4.2 km | 34.6 | 5.3% | 65% |
| Dunshaughlin | 6,644 | 9.5 km | 34.7 | 8.1% | 52% |
| Hollystown | 12,884 | 10.3 km | 30.9 | 2.5% | 58% |
| Dunboyne | 7,155 | 11.5 km | 36.6 | 9.8% | 57% |
| Clonee | 1,205 | 11.8 km | 34.2 | 5.6% | 39% |
| Mulhuddart | 19,252 | 12.1 km | 35.6 | 10% | 50% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Meath’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Meath’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 Ashbourne’s residents
What is the population of Ashbourne?
Ashbourne had 15,680 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 19% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ashbourne?
The median age is 35.6, younger than 75% of Irish towns. 30% are under 18 and 8.3% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ashbourne?
39% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (5,696 people), and 1.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ashbourne?
71% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 26% were born abroad and 19% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ashbourne?
66% are Catholic, 18% have no religion and 17% another religion; 3.8% didn’t say.
Is Ashbourne good for families?
56% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 30% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ashbourne are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ashbourne?
Median gross household income in Ashbourne was €77,550 in 2022, against €70,660 across Co. Meath 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).