Photo: Captain Fearnought at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Dunshaughlin top those of 93% of Irish towns
At the 2022 census, 6.1% of the labour force in Dunshaughlin had no job, next to 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. For jobs and income, Dunshaughlin earns a grade of A−, #4 of 12 in County Meath. The average trip to work, school or college from Dunshaughlin takes 34.7 minutes, and 16% take an hour or more.
Dunshaughlin at work: what stands out
More people in work than most towns
75% of people aged 15 to 64 in Dunshaughlin had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
6.1% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 1.9% 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 Dunshaughlin had €87,884 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 34.7 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 16% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Jobs and income in Dunshaughlin earn A−
Taken together, its four measures make it better than 82% of Irish towns, #4 of 12 in County Meath.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
In Dunshaughlin, 75% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
All 11 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Meath have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 1.9% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 43% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 67% 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 Dunshaughlin: €87,884 a year
That puts Dunshaughlin 24% above the median for County Meath as a whole, €70,657. 2 of the county’s 11 other towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €70,361. The State median is €60,123, 32% below Dunshaughlin’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
More time on the road to work or school from Dunshaughlin than in the middle of Irish towns
The middle of County Meath has 29% of trips under 15 minutes; here it is 25%. Most often, a trip takes 15 to 44 minutes: 49%, against 47% in the middle of County Meath. For the middle of County Meath, the average trip is 32.9 minutes. 10 of the 12 towns of County Meath counted have a shorter average trip.
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.
What Dunshaughlin does for a living
Professional services, health and education is the second-largest at 24%, against 25% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 0.9%.
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.
For 13% of Dunshaughlin’s commuters, the trip is on foot, by bike, bus or train
The bus takes 7.2% of commuters, against 6% in the middle of Irish towns. On foot 4%, by bike 0.5%: the middle of Irish towns has 10% and 2.4%. 72% of commuters go by car or van. Mainly from home: 15% of residents in work, next to 11% in the middle of Irish towns.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Signing on in County Meath, against the 2019 level
3,692 people were signing on in County Meath in September 2026. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 71 months. Its lowest month since 2019 was November 2024, at 3,559. County Meath saw its highest month in July 2020: 5,146 people signing on, 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).
How Dunshaughlin spends its days: 67% of adults in work
Compared with Irish towns, 10% are retired (against 15%) and 2.6% 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.
Dunshaughlin on foot: a B− grade
Better than 55% of Irish towns on two measures together, #4 of 12 in County Meath.
Of the everyday places, a pharmacy is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (73%).
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.
How Dunshaughlin ranks: 26th of 100 Irish towns of 4,700 to 9,000
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballinlough County Cork | 5,435 | 74% | 4.8% | €72K | A+ |
| 2 | Carrigtwohill County Cork | 5,568 | 73% | 5.5% | €71K | A+ |
| 3 | Oranmore County Galway | 5,819 | 79% | 5.9% | €80K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Dunboyne County Meath | 7,155 | 70% | 5.4% | €89K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | Sutton County Dublin | 5,789 | 74% | 5.5% | €73K | A− |
| 25 | Kilcock County Kildare | 8,674 | 74% | 6.5% | €83K | A− |
| 26 | Dunshaughlin County Meath | 6,644 | 75% | 6.1% | €88K | A− |
| 27 | Clonakilty County Cork | 5,112 | 71% | 7.4% | €49K | A− |
| 28 | Portobello County Dublin | 5,732 | 77% | 8.7% | €67K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 71 | Duleek County Meath | 4,899 | 66% | 9.7% | €62K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 89 | Kells County Meath | 6,608 | 64% | 12% | €52K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 100 | Cherry Orchard County Dublin | 8,280 | 56% | 18% | €53K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Dunshaughlin, and others in County Meath.
The work picture around Dunshaughlin
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunshaughlin | 75% | 6.1% | €88K | 34.7 min | A− | B− |
| Ratoath 5.4 km | 70% | 6% | €96K | 32.4 min | A− | C+ |
| Ashbourne 9.5 km | 74% | 6.6% | €78K | 29.2 min | A | B− |
| Dunboyne 11.6 km | 70% | 5.4% | €89K | 31.4 min | A− | B |
| Kentstown 13 km | 67% | 10% | €79K | 34.8 min | C+ | D− |
| Clonee 13.4 km | 78% | 6% | €87K | 34.3 min | A | C+ |
| Ongar 14.7 km | 69% | 8.5% | €79K | 34.3 min | B | 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 Dunshaughlin, 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 Dunshaughlin
What is the unemployment rate in Dunshaughlin?
6.1% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 1.9% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Dunshaughlin a good place to find work?
Dunshaughlin earns an A− for jobs and income, better than 82% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #4 of 12 in County Meath.
How do people in Dunshaughlin get to work?
72% of commuters go by car or van, 4% walk, 0.5% cycle and 8.9% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 15% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Dunshaughlin?
Trips to work, school or college take 34.7 minutes on average; 16% take an hour or more and 25% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Dunshaughlin?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Dunshaughlin’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Dunshaughlin 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 Dunshaughlin 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).