Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0Banagher has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 80% of Irish towns
13% of the labour force in Banagher was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. Banagher grades C− for jobs and income. The trip to work, school or college averages 25.5 minutes from Banagher, with 9.9% taking an hour or more.
Work in Banagher, in a few figures
Fewer people in work than most towns
63% of people aged 15 to 64 in Banagher had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
13% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 3% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household in Banagher had €46,585 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Banagher grades C− for jobs and income
With four measures combined, it comes out better than 18% of Irish towns.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the unemployment rate.
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.
In Banagher, 63% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Offaly, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 3% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 41% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 50% 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 Banagher: €46,585
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 73% of Irish towns.
That puts Banagher 17% below the median for County Offaly as a whole, €56,048. Of the county’s 4 towns of 2,500 or more, 3 have a higher median. Net of tax, it is €42,141. The State median is €60,123, 29% above Banagher’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 Banagher’s jobs
Manufacturing is the second-largest at 22%, against 11% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 1.4%.
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.
Car-free commutes: 17% of workers in Banagher
14% walk to work, against 10% in the middle of Irish towns. For 76% of commuters, the trip to work is by car or van. 5.9% work mainly from home, against 11% in the middle of Irish towns. The bus takes 1.3% of commuters, against 6% in the middle of Irish towns.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
The trip to work or school is shorter from Banagher than in the middle of Irish towns
The middle of County Offaly averages 23.7 minutes a trip. Among County Offaly’s 4 towns counted, 3 have shorter trips on average. Under 15 minutes: 51% of trips, much as in the middle of County Offaly.
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.
Signing on in County Offaly since 2019
2,937 people were signing on in County Offaly in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 fell by 2%. For 73 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. Its lowest month since 2019 was March 2025, at 2,930. County Offaly: signing on peaked in July 2019 at 4,211, 9% 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).
50% of people 16 and over in Banagher are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 18% are retired (against 15%) and 6.4% 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.
On getting around on foot, Banagher grades B
Better than 56% of Irish towns on two measures together.
Of the everyday places, a post office is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (71%).
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.
Work next door to Banagher
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banagher | 63% | 13% | €47K | 25.5 min | C− | B |
| Birr 11.7 km | 61% | 15% | €43K | 22.7 min | D | B− |
| Ferbane 13.3 km | 63% | 13% | €53K | 26.8 min | C− | D |
| Kilcormac 17.1 km | 56% | 19% | €46K | 26.3 min | D− | 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 Banagher, 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 Banagher
What is the unemployment rate in Banagher?
13% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Banagher a good place to find work?
Banagher earns a C− for jobs and income, better than 18% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Banagher get to work?
76% of commuters go by car or van, 14% walk, 2% cycle and 1.6% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 5.9% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Banagher?
Trips to work, school or college take 25.5 minutes on average; 9.9% take an hour or more and 51% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Banagher?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Banagher’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Banagher 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 Banagher 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).