Photo: Zxcode · CC BY-SA 3.0Coolaney has a larger share of its working-age people in jobs than 83% of Irish towns
Trips to work, school or college from Coolaney take 25.8 minutes on average; for 4.8%, it takes an hour or more. Unemployment in Coolaney stood at 7.7% at the 2022 census (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). For jobs and income, Coolaney earns a grade of A−.
The work numbers behind Coolaney
Work near the middle
72% of people aged 15 to 64 in Coolaney had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
7.7% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 3.6% 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.
Coolaney earns A− for jobs and income
Better than 80% of Irish towns on four measures taken together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, trip times.
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.
Jobs held by Coolaney’s residents, by industry
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 24% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 0.9%.
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.
In Coolaney, 72% of the working-age population has a job
3.6% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 65% 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, 66% 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 Coolaney: €59,550 at the median
Before tax, 2022: higher than in 59% of Irish towns.
Coolaney’s median is 18% above County Sligo’s (€50,438). After tax, the median is €50,940. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 1% above Coolaney’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
Not by car: 2.2% of Coolaney’s commuters walk, cycle or ride the bus or train
Home is the main workplace for 11%, close to the middle of Irish towns. By bus: 0.8% of commuters, next to 6% in the middle of Irish towns. The middle of Irish towns has 10% walking and 2.4% cycling; here it is 0.8% and 0.2%. The car or van carries most commuters: 86%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Coolaney sits near the middle of Irish towns on the trip to work or school
Short trips of under 15 minutes make up 24%, where the middle of County Sligo has 56%. 68% of trips take 15 to 44 minutes, where the middle of County Sligo has 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.
18% fewer people sign on in County Sligo than in 2019
2,120 people were signing on in County Sligo in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 fell by 4%. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 38 months. Its lowest month since 2019 was November 2021, at 2,052. County Sligo saw its highest month in July 2020: 3,040 people signing on, 11% 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).
66% of people 16 and over in Coolaney are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 7.2% are retired (against 15%) and 3.1% 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.
On getting around on foot, Coolaney grades D−
Behind almost every Irish town on two measures together.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a food shop: 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.
Work in the places around Coolaney
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coolaney | 72% | 7.7% | €60K | 25.8 min | A− | D− |
| Collooney 7.3 km | 70% | 9.4% | €50K | 20.6 min | B+ | C− |
| Ballysadare 7.5 km | 75% | 6.4% | €57K | 19.9 min | A+ | C− |
| Ballymote 10.9 km | 69% | 11% | €43K | 24.1 min | C+ | B− |
| Strandhill 10.9 km | 74% | 5.6% | €64K | 22.2 min | A+ | C− |
| Sligo 13.8 km | 64% | 11% | €46K | 17.6 min | C+ | B |
| Tubbercurry 15.8 km | 63% | 15% | €42K | 25.2 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 Coolaney, 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 Coolaney
What is the unemployment rate in Coolaney?
7.7% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3.6% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Coolaney a good place to find work?
Coolaney earns an A− for jobs and income, better than 80% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Coolaney get to work?
86% of commuters go by car or van, 0.8% walk, 0.2% cycle and 1.2% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 11% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Coolaney?
Trips to work, school or college take 25.8 minutes on average; 4.8% take an hour or more and 24% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Coolaney?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Coolaney’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Coolaney 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 Coolaney 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).