Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0Birr has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 88% of Irish towns
15% of the labour force in Birr was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. For jobs and income, Birr earns a grade of D, #284 of 321 Irish towns. The average trip to work, school or college from Birr takes 22.7 minutes, with 8.4% taking an hour or more.
The short version on work in Birr
Fewer people in work than most towns
61% of people aged 15 to 64 in Birr had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
15% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 4.5% 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 Birr had €42,662 a year before tax in 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Trips to work, school or college take 22.7 minutes on average, against 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns; 8.4% 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 Birr earn D
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.
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 share in work in Birr: 61% of 15-to-64s
None of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Offaly has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
4.5% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 54% 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, 48% 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.
Before tax, the median household in Birr has €42,662
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 84% of Irish towns.
Birr’s median is 24% below County Offaly’s (€56,048). Every other town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. After tax, the median is €39,607. The State median is €60,123, 41% above Birr’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Against the middle of Irish towns, Birr has the shorter trip to work or school
The middle of County Offaly averages 23.7 minutes a trip. Among County Offaly’s 4 towns counted, none averages a shorter trip. Under 15 minutes: 55% of trips, next to 50% 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.
Where Birr’s residents work, by industry
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 23% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, 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.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 21% of Birr’s commuters
On foot 16%, by bike 3.4%: the middle of Irish towns has 10% and 2.4%. Driving dominates: 71% go to work by car or van. The middle of Irish towns has 11% working mainly from home; here it is 7.4%. The bus takes 0.9% of commuters, against 6% in the middle of Irish towns.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
The Live Register in County Offaly, month by month
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. Birr office saw its highest month in July 2019: 1,386 people signing on, 8% 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.
People signing on each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Birr at work: 48% of adults have a job
Compared with Irish towns, 18% are retired and 7.4% 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, Birr grades B−
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a pharmacy: 46%.
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.
Birr next to Irish towns of 3,300 to 6,400: 86th of 100 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 72 | Clara County Offaly | 3,403 | 61% | 12% | €47K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 84 | Dock County Limerick | 6,258 | 63% | 13% | €42K | C− |
| 85 | Ardee County Louth | 5,478 | 63% | 12% | €47K | C− |
| 86 | Birr County Offaly | 4,726 | 61% | 15% | €43K | D |
| 87 | Listowel County Kerry | 4,794 | 61% | 14% | €40K | D |
| 88 | The Glen County Cork | 6,119 | 61% | 13% | €48K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 100 | Courtown County Wexford | 4,365 | 60% | 15% | €44K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Birr, and others in County Offaly.
Neighbouring places to Birr, compared
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birr | 61% | 15% | €43K | 22.7 min | D | B− |
| Banagher 11.7 km | 63% | 13% | €47K | 25.5 min | C− | B |
| Kilcormac 15.1 km | 56% | 19% | €46K | 26.3 min | D− | B |
| Roscrea 17.2 km | 63% | 13% | €44K | 23 min | C | B− |
| Borrisokane 18.4 km | 61% | 14% | €42K | 25.6 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 Birr, 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 Birr
What is the unemployment rate in Birr?
15% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 4.5% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Birr a good place to find work?
Birr earns a D for jobs and income, better than 15% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #284 of 321 Irish towns.
How do people in Birr get to work?
71% of commuters go by car or van, 16% walk, 3.4% cycle and 1.5% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 7.4% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Birr?
Trips to work, school or college take 22.7 minutes on average; 8.4% take an hour or more and 55% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Birr?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Birr’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Birr 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 Birr 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).