Monaghan · Unknown author Unknown author · CC BY-SA 4.0County Monaghan, subject by subject
Ahead of most counties at 7th of 26, County Monaghan does best on cost of living and least well on getting about.
Each subject puts an official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
14th of 26B−48/100 Mid-table on safety. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it trails most.
Violent crime alone (assault, robbery, kidnapping, weapons): 4.9 per 1,000 a year (Ireland 5.9), 12th of 26.
Every recorded crime but fraud, theft, drugs and road traffic included: 40.0 per 1,000 a year (Ireland 54.1), 10th of 26.
Source: CSO, recorded crime incidents by Garda station (CJA11), 2023-2025, fraud left out; each station’s area from the Census 2011 Garda sub-districts, and every Small Area’s residents (Census 2022) given its station area’s rate. Homicide and sexual offences aren’t published by station.
County Monaghan has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Schools
Not gradedNot graded in Ireland (Education Act 1998, s.53). Section 53 of the Education Act 1998 rules out school league tables, so neither towns nor counties get a Schools grade, and no county results figure is published. Each town’s Schools page lists its schools.
Cost of living
2nd of 26A+96/100 Among Ireland’s best counties for cost of living. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it compares well.
A year’s rent on a new tenancy: 24% of median household income (middle county 28%), 1st of 26.
Median sale price, 2025: €213,000 (Ireland €360,000), 6th of 26.
Average monthly rent on new tenancies, 2025: €1,028 (middle county €1,207), 3rd of 26.
Source: CSO, median price of residential sales by county, 2025 (Revenue stamp-duty filings, HPA02); RTB average monthly rent on new tenancies, 2025 (RIA02; none for the State as a whole); CSO Geographical Profiles of Income, 2022 (median gross household income, GPIIA05).
County Monaghan has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Health
4th of 26A88/100 Among Ireland’s best counties for health. Too few of its towns are graded to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the county’s own figure, which sits on the stronger side.
Deaths, age-standardised, 2020-2024: 919 a year per 100,000 people (Ireland 918), 10th of 26.
Disability against Ireland’s rate for the same ages: 87 (Ireland 100), 1st of 26.
Source: CSO, Census 2022 general health and disability by Small Area, against Ireland’s rates for each sex and age; CSO age-standardised mortality by county, 2020-2024 (MORT04). No life expectancy is published by county.
County Monaghan has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Jobs & income
11th of 26B60/100 Better than most counties for jobs and income. The county’s own figure decides the grade here, and it is weaker than most.
Unemployment (Census 2022, aged 15 and over): 8.2% (Ireland 8.3%), 8th of 26.
Disposable income per person, 2024: €26,900 (Ireland €30,100), 17th of 26.
Source: CSO, Geographical Profiles of Income, 2022 (GPIIA05); County Incomes, 2024 (RAA02); Census 2022 (unemployment, aged 15 and over).
County Monaghan has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Getting about
24th of 26D8/100 Among Ireland’s weakest counties for getting about. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it trails most.
Drive or are driven to work: 75% (Ireland 69%).
Work mainly from home: 8% of workers (Ireland 12%), 26th of 26.
Source: CSO, Census 2022, means of travel to work by Small Area; people who work mainly from home or didn’t say left out.
County Monaghan has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Hazards
8th of 26B+72/100 Ahead of most counties on hazards. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it compares well.
Homes estimated over the radon reference level, averaged over residents: 3.0% (Ireland 7.0%), 3rd of 26.
Source: EPA radon map: the estimated share of homes over the reference level in each 10 km square, under each Small Area’s residents (Census 2022).
County Monaghan has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Growth
22nd of 26C−16/100 In the lower half of the counties on growth. Too few of its towns are graded to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the county’s own figure, which sits on the weaker side.
Since 2011: +7.9% (Ireland +12.2%), 21st of 26.
Source: CSO, census populations by county, 2011, 2016 and 2022 (F1003).
County Monaghan has 3 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
How County Monaghan compares with its neighbours
| Monaghan | Cavan | Louth | Meath | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A− 767th of 26 | C+ 3617th of 26 | D− 425th of 26 | A+ 962nd of 26 |
| Safety | B− 4815th official | C− 2416th official · 0% in top towns | D 822nd official | B+ 726th official · 41% in top towns |
| Schools | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Cost of living | A+ 966th official | A 927th official · 87% in top towns | D− 424th official | C+ 4420th official · 51% in top towns |
| Health | A 882nd official | C 3212th official · 0% in top towns | C 2823rd official | A+ 1005th official · 36% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | B 6020th official | C− 2016th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2413th official | A 923rd official · 28% in top towns |
| Getting about | D 821st official | C− 1623rd official · 0% in top towns | A+ 962nd official | B 569th official · 0% in top towns |
| Hazards | B+ 728th official | A+ 963rd official · 74% in top towns | B 6410th official | A− 7614th official · 77% in top towns |
| Growth | C− 1621st official | C+ 3618th official · 13% in top towns | B− 5411th official | A+ 962nd official · 67% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for Ireland. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, towns, villages and countryside together: Census 2022 Small Areas added up, Garda station areas weighted by the people living in them, or the CSO’s own county table. It is ranked against Ireland’s other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for Ireland. Quarters are of people, not towns, so a county with a city isn’t marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the county’s standing among Ireland’s 26 counties: the two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, health 14, jobs and income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, hazards 4 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it can’t show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Schools aren’t graded: the Education Act 1998 (s.53) rules out school league tables. No life expectancy is published by county, so health uses age-standardised measures instead. The county figure for hazards is radon: the towns’ flood measure needs LiDAR, which covers towns, not the countryside. The RTB publishes no rent for the State as a whole, so rents are set beside the middle county. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Irish towns against each other only, run #54 of 3 November 2026 · County figures: Census 2022 Small Areas added up by county; the CSO’s county tables (prices, incomes, mortality, population); Garda station-area crime rates (CSO); RTB rents; the EPA radon map. 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).