Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Ballybay earn less than those in 87% of Irish towns
People heading out of Ballybay for work or study spend 25.3 minutes travelling on average; 8.2% spend 60 minutes or longer. For jobs and income, Ballybay earns a grade of C. Unemployment in Ballybay stood at 11% at the 2022 census (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%).
The work figures that set Ballybay apart
Work near the middle
67% of people aged 15 to 64 in Ballybay had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Ballybay had €41,620 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. CSO publishes no income figure for this place, so this one is our estimate from its electoral divisions. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
On jobs and income, Ballybay grades C
Its four measures together rank it better than 32% of Irish towns.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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.
How much households earn in Ballybay: €41,620
Ballybay’s median is 18% below County Monaghan’s (€50,617). 2 of the county’s 3 towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. After tax, the median is €38,070. The State median is €60,123, 44% above Ballybay’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
The industries behind Ballybay’s jobs
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 Ballybay, 67% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Monaghan, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
4% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Among the unemployed, 59% had been out of work that long. 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.
Walking, cycling, the bus or the train: 12% of Ballybay’s commuters
The bus takes 0.9% of commuters, against 6% in the middle of Irish towns. By bike: 0.6% of commuters, next to 2.4% in the middle of Irish towns. Most go by car or van: 83% of commuters.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Getting to work or school is quicker from Ballybay than in the middle of Irish towns
The commonest trip is 15 to 44 minutes, for 45% of trips; the middle of County Monaghan has 40%. Trips of under 15 minutes are 43% of the total, against 47% in the middle of County Monaghan.
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 many sign on in County Monaghan: the count since 2019
1,635 people were signing on in County Monaghan in September 2026. For 49 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. County Monaghan saw its highest month in July 2019: 2,830 people signing on, 13% 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).
Ballybay at work: 56% of adults have a job
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.
Ballybay on foot: a B− grade
Better than 50% of Irish towns on two measures together.
Of the everyday places, a pharmacy is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (79%).
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 the places next to Ballybay compare on work
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballybay | 67% | 11% | €42K | 25.3 min | C | B− |
| Castleblayney 10.4 km | 65% | 13% | €41K | 24.6 min | C− | C |
| Cootehill 13.4 km | 69% | 11% | €39K | 23.9 min | C+ | B+ |
| Monaghan 13.6 km | 68% | 11% | €45K | 22.1 min | B− | 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 Ballybay, 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 Ballybay
What is the unemployment rate in Ballybay?
11% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 4% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Ballybay a good place to find work?
Ballybay earns a C for jobs and income, better than 32% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Ballybay get to work?
83% of commuters go by car or van, 10% walk, 0.6% cycle and 0.9% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 3.9% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Ballybay?
Trips to work, school or college take 25.3 minutes on average; 8.2% take an hour or more and 43% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Ballybay?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Ballybay’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Ballybay 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 Ballybay 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).