Photo: Nigel Thompson · CC BY-SA 2.0Slane’s household incomes are higher than in 63% of Irish towns
At the 2022 census, 11% of the labour force in Slane had no job, where the middle of Irish towns has 9.2%. On jobs and income together, Slane grades C. Getting to work, school or college from Slane takes 34.9 minutes on average, with 16% taking an hour or more.
What sets Slane apart on jobs and income
Work near the middle
67% of people aged 15 to 64 in Slane had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 34.9 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.
On jobs and income, Slane grades C
With four measures combined, it comes out better than 31% of Irish towns.
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.
Ranks start at 2,500 residents, so this grade has no rank.
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.
The trip to work or school is longer from Slane than in the middle of Irish towns
Of the 12 towns of County Meath counted, 11 have a shorter average trip. The middle of County Meath has 29% of trips under 15 minutes; here it is 24%. Trips of 15 to 44 minutes are the most common, at 48% (middle of County Meath: 47%). In the middle of County Meath, the trip averages 32.9 minutes.
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.
In Slane, 22% of residents in work are in commerce and trade
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 21% (against 25% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 2.1%.
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 Slane, 67% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 12 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Meath, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
3.6% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 55% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year or more. Of all residents aged 15 and over, retirees and students among them, 56% 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.
How much households earn in Slane: €62,260
Slane’s median is 12% below County Meath’s (€70,657). 8 of the county’s 12 towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. After tax, the median is €51,720. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 3% below Slane’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
13% of commuters in Slane go on foot, by bike or by public transport
Home is the main workplace for 12%, close to the middle of Irish towns. Public transport takes about the same share as in the middle of Irish towns. Against 10% and 2.4% in the middle of Irish towns, 6.2% walk and 1% cycle. For 75% of commuters, the trip to work is by car or van.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
How many sign on in County Meath: the count since 2019
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).
56% of adults in Slane are in work
The mix is close to Irish towns’ as a whole.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
Slane grades B− for walkability
Better than 54% of Irish towns on two measures together.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a pharmacy: 74%.
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.
Jobs and income in the places around Slane
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slane | 67% | 11% | €62K | 34.9 min | C | B− |
| Tullyallen 8.9 km | 69% | 5.9% | €75K | 29.1 min | A− | D |
| Kentstown 8.9 km | 67% | 10% | €79K | 34.8 min | C+ | D− |
| Duleek 9.7 km | 66% | 9.7% | €62K | 32.9 min | C | D− |
| Navan 11.1 km | 67% | 10% | €63K | 33.8 min | C | C+ |
| Drogheda 12.7 km | 65% | 11% | €56K | 31.1 min | C | B− |
| Ardee 16.1 km | 63% | 12% | €47K | 27 min | C− | C |
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 Slane, 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 Slane
What is the unemployment rate in Slane?
11% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3.6% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Slane a good place to find work?
Slane earns a C for jobs and income, better than 31% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Slane get to work?
75% of commuters go by car or van, 6.2% walk, 1% cycle and 5.8% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 12% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Slane?
Trips to work, school or college take 34.9 minutes on average; 16% take an hour or more and 24% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Slane?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Slane’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Slane 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 Slane 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).