#1Ashbourne
15,680 peopleScore 69.0·#4 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: hazard risk A+, jobs & income A·lowest: walkability B−
Ashbourne, #1 on this list · Photo: Trounce (CC BY-SA 2.5)Meath · 2026
Best places to live in County Meath
In all, 6 towns on the list earn an A grade. The list’s highest score is 69.0, its lowest 45.7. Ashbourne ranks first of 11 ranked towns of 2,500 or more in County Meath, #4 of 320 towns nationally. Second place on the list goes to Dunboyne, with A+.
The overall score, sorted within the county; the letter compares each town with every town in Ireland of 2,500+, and its national rank sits beside it. How grades work
#1A+
#2Dunboyne
7,155 peopleScore 68.4·#6 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: health A+, hazard risk A+·lowest: cost of living C
#3Enfield
3,663 peopleScore 66.7·#10 of 320 Irish towns
Strongest: hazard risk A, jobs & income A−·lowest: cost of living B−
All 11 towns, ranked
By overall score against Irish towns; ranks are within the county, and each national rank links to the national list.
#TownScoreGrade · national rankWhat drives it
1Ashbourne15,680 people69.0top 0.9%A+#4 of 320 nationallyStrongest: hazard risk A+, jobs & income A·lowest: walkability B−
2Dunboyne7,155 people68.4top 1.6%A+#6 of 320 nationallyStrongest: health A+, hazard risk A+·lowest: cost of living C
3Enfield3,663 people66.7top 2.8%A+#10 of 320 nationallyStrongest: hazard risk A, jobs & income A−·lowest: cost of living B−
4Ratoath10,077 people66.5top 3.3%A+#11 of 320 nationallyStrongest: hazard risk A+, health A+·lowest: cost of living C+
5Dunshaughlin6,644 people64.2top 6.6%A#22 of 320 nationallyStrongest: health A, safety A−·lowest: hazard risk C−
6Trim9,563 people59.0top 23.5%A−#76 of 320 nationallyStrongest: hazard risk B+, cost of living B+·lowest: walkability C
7Stamullen3,720 people57.4top 27.9%B+#90 of 320 nationallyStrongest: health A, jobs & income A·lowest: hazard risk D
8Duleek4,899 people55.2top 32.3%B+#104 of 320 nationallyStrongest: safety A−, cost of living A−·lowest: walkability D−
9Navan33,886 people52.5top 37.6%B#121 of 320 nationallyStrongest: hazard risk A, cost of living A−·lowest: jobs & income C
10Kells6,608 people51.7top 40.4%B#130 of 320 nationallyStrongest: cost of living A, hazard risk A·lowest: jobs & income D
11Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington-Donacarney15,642 people45.7bottom 43.9%C+#180 of 320 nationallyStrongest: hazard risk A, cost of living B·lowest: walkability C−
Quick answers
Questions people ask
How are these towns ranked?
By the overall grade, which blends six graded subjects (safety, cost of living, health, jobs & income, walkability and hazard risk) from public data, each comparing a town with every town in Ireland of 1,000 or more. The rank is among the towns of 2,500 or more in County Meath, where five or more have an overall grade.
Why isn’t my town on this list?
The list covers places of 2,500 or more with an overall grade. Smaller places, and towns missing figures the overall grade needs, show their grades on their own pages; every town is listed on the County Meath page.
County by county
Best places to live, county by county
Photos: Ashbourne, Trounce (CC BY-SA 2.5) · Dunboyne, 瑞丽江的河水 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Enfield, Scaramanga731 (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Irish towns against each other only, run #71 of 9 November 2026. 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).