Photo: DiarmuidC15 · CC BY-SA 4.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Ferbane trails that of 81% of Irish towns
The Jobs & income grade for Ferbane is C−. At the 2022 census, 13% of the labour force in Ferbane had no job, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns.
What Ferbane’s work numbers say
Fewer people in work than most towns
63% of people aged 15 to 64 in Ferbane 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; 3.9% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022, CSO household income 2022 and the Live Register.
Ferbane grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 25% of Irish towns on four measures taken together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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.
63% of Ferbane’s 15-to-64s are in work
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Offaly, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
3.9% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 59% 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, 46% 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.
What the people of Ferbane do for work
Manufacturing is the second-largest at 19%, against 11% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is farming, forestry and fishing, at 2.2%.
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.
The median household in Ferbane has €53,160 a year
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 54% of Irish towns.
Ferbane’s median is 5% below County Offaly’s (€56,048). 2 of the county’s 4 towns of 2,500 people or more have a higher median. After tax, the median is €46,390. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 13% above Ferbane’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Within Ferbane, incomes range from €46K to €59K
Median gross household income in each of the 3 electoral divisions where 50 or more of Ferbane’s households live: the highest is 1.3 times the lowest. The share of people aged 15 to 64 in work runs from 42% in Gallen to 69% in Ferbane.
| Electoral division | Households here | Median income (whole division) | Aged 15–64 in work (here) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ferbane | 335 | €53,605 | 69% |
| Gallen | 94 | €46,177 | 42% |
| Moyclare | 89 | €58,836 | 65% |
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022 (GPIIA01): each division’s median covers all its households, including any outside Ferbane; households and the share in work are Ferbane’s own part (Census 2022, CSO SAPS).
Without a car, 6.6% of Ferbane’s commuters get to work
7.8% work mainly from home, against 11% in the middle of Irish towns. Buses carry 0.4% of commuters, where the middle of Irish towns has 6%. On foot 5.2%, by bike 0.4%: the middle of Irish towns has 10% and 2.4%. Driving dominates: 85% go to work by car or van.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
26.8 minutes from Ferbane, close to the 27.6 in the middle of Irish towns
Among County Offaly’s 4 towns counted, 3 have shorter trips on average. Trips of under 15 minutes are 43% of the total, against 50% in the middle of County Offaly. Long trips of an hour or more are 11% of the total, against 9.2% in the middle of County Offaly. 43% of trips take 15 to 44 minutes, where the middle of County Offaly has 35%. The trip from the middle of County Offaly averages 23.7 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.
The count signing on in County Offaly is 21% below its 2019 level
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).
In work, studying or retired: 46% of Ferbane’s adults work
Compared with Irish towns, 22% are retired (against 15%).
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
How walkable Ferbane is: D
Better than 14% of Irish towns on two measures together.
Of the everyday places, a post office is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (47%).
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.
Next to Ferbane: how nearby places compare
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferbane | 63% | 13% | €53K | 26.8 min | C− | D |
| Kilcormac 12.9 km | 56% | 19% | €46K | 26.3 min | D− | B |
| Banagher 13.3 km | 63% | 13% | €47K | 25.5 min | C− | B |
| Moate 16.1 km | 67% | 11% | €53K | 25.6 min | C+ | C |
| Clara 16.8 km | 61% | 12% | €47K | 23.1 min | C | C− |
| Athlone 18.8 km | 65% | 12% | €53K | 22.7 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 Ferbane, 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 Ferbane
What is the unemployment rate in Ferbane?
13% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3.9% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Ferbane a good place to find work?
Ferbane earns a C− for jobs and income, better than 25% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Ferbane get to work?
85% of commuters go by car or van, 5.2% walk, 0.4% cycle and 1% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 7.8% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Ferbane?
Trips to work, school or college take 26.8 minutes on average; 11% take an hour or more and 43% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Ferbane?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Ferbane’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Ferbane 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 Ferbane 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).