Making a living in Elphin
Unemployment in Elphin stood at 15% at the 2022 census (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). Trips to work, school or college from Elphin take 26 minutes on average, and 9.1% take an hour or more. The Jobs & income Grade leaves out Elphin: it has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts.
Elphin and work: the main findings
Fewer people in work than most towns
62% of people aged 15 to 64 in Elphin 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; 4.8% 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 Elphin had €37,720 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.
Why Elphin has no Jobs & income Grade
Elphin has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts. The figures on this page are still its own.
In Elphin, 62% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
The middle of Irish towns is 68%.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 4.8% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 57% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 49% 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.
Household income in Elphin: €37,720 at the median
Before tax, 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760.
That puts Elphin 26% below the median for County Roscommon as a whole, €51,009. Net of tax, it is €34,270. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 59% above Elphin’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
What residents of Elphin work in
Commerce and trade is the second-largest at 18%, against 26% across Irish towns; the smallest of the seven is transport and communications, at 3.7%.
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.
One way or another, 6.9% of Elphin’s commuters skip the car
Against 11% in the middle of Irish towns, 8.2% work mainly from home. The middle of Irish towns has 6% going by bus; here it is 1.3%. The middle of Irish towns has 10% walking to work; here it is 4.7%. The car or van carries most commuters: 84%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
No quicker, no slower: the trip to work or school from Elphin against the middle of Irish towns
50% of trips take 15 to 44 minutes, where the middle of County Roscommon has 36%. The middle of County Roscommon has 54% of trips under 15 minutes; here it is 39%.
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 Roscommon: the count since 2019
1,855 people were signing on in County Roscommon in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 fell by 3%. Its lowest month since 2019 was September 2021, at 1,738. County Roscommon: signing on peaked in July 2020 at 2,291, 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. 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).
49% of adults in Elphin are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 8.1% 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.
Everyday places within walking distance in Elphin
Not graded: the Walkability grade starts at 1,000 residents.
Of the everyday places, a pharmacy is the one the fewest residents have within 800 m (0%).
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.
Jobs and income in the places around Elphin
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elphin | 62% | 15% | €38K | 26 min | — | — |
| Carrick-On-Shannon 13.5 km | 68% | 11% | €46K | 23.9 min | C+ | C+ |
| Boyle 15.6 km | 60% | 15% | €39K | 22.8 min | D | 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 Elphin, 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 Elphin
What is the unemployment rate in Elphin?
15% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 4.8% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
How do people in Elphin get to work?
84% of commuters go by car or van, 4.7% walk, 0% cycle and 2.2% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 8.2% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Elphin?
Trips to work, school or college take 26 minutes on average; 9.1% take an hour or more and 39% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Elphin?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Elphin’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Elphin 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 Elphin travel and how long their trips take.
Sources: CSO Census 2022 SAPS · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · CSO Live Register (LRM07) · OpenStreetMap (ODbL). 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).