Moate · Spideog · CC BY-SA 4.0County Westmeath, subject by subject
County Westmeath sits in the lower half of the counties, 18th of 26, with getting about its strongest subject and safety its weakest.
Each subject puts an official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
23rd of 26D12/100 Near the foot of Ireland’s counties on safety. The county’s own figure decides the grade here, and it is weaker than most.
Violent crime alone (assault, robbery, kidnapping, weapons): 6.7 per 1,000 a year (Ireland 5.9), 23rd of 26.
Every recorded crime but fraud, theft, drugs and road traffic included: 55.3 per 1,000 a year (Ireland 54.1), 22nd of 26.
Source: CSO, recorded crime incidents by Garda station (CJA11), 2023-2025, fraud left out; each station’s area from the Census 2011 Garda sub-districts, and every Small Area’s residents (Census 2022) given its station area’s rate. Homicide and sexual offences aren’t published by station.
County Westmeath has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Schools
Not gradedNot graded in Ireland (Education Act 1998, s.53). Section 53 of the Education Act 1998 rules out school league tables, so neither towns nor counties get a Schools grade, and no county results figure is published. Each town’s Schools page lists its schools.
Cost of living
16th of 26C+40/100 Near the middle for cost of living. Too few of its towns are graded to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the county’s own figure, which sits on the stronger side.
A year’s rent on a new tenancy: 26% of median household income (middle county 28%), 10th of 26.
Median sale price, 2025: €303,000 (Ireland €360,000), 18th of 26.
Average monthly rent on new tenancies, 2025: €1,257 (middle county €1,207), 17th of 26.
Source: CSO, median price of residential sales by county, 2025 (Revenue stamp-duty filings, HPA02); RTB average monthly rent on new tenancies, 2025 (RIA02; none for the State as a whole); CSO Geographical Profiles of Income, 2022 (median gross household income, GPIIA05).
County Westmeath has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Health
11th of 26B60/100 Better than most counties for health. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it compares well.
Deaths, age-standardised, 2020-2024: 929 a year per 100,000 people (Ireland 918), 12th of 26.
Disability against Ireland’s rate for the same ages: 100 (Ireland 100), 13th of 26.
Source: CSO, Census 2022 general health and disability by Small Area, against Ireland’s rates for each sex and age; CSO age-standardised mortality by county, 2020-2024 (MORT04). No life expectancy is published by county.
County Westmeath has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Jobs & income
16th of 26C+44/100 Near the middle for jobs and income. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it trails most.
Unemployment (Census 2022, aged 15 and over): 9.5% (Ireland 8.3%), 21st of 26.
Disposable income per person, 2024: €29,100 (Ireland €30,100), 11th of 26.
Source: CSO, Geographical Profiles of Income, 2022 (GPIIA05); County Incomes, 2024 (RAA02); Census 2022 (unemployment, aged 15 and over).
County Westmeath has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Getting about
9th of 26B+70/100 Ahead of most counties on getting about. The county’s own figure decides the grade here, and it is better than most.
Drive or are driven to work: 76% (Ireland 69%).
Work mainly from home: 10% of workers (Ireland 12%), 19th of 26.
Source: CSO, Census 2022, means of travel to work by Small Area; people who work mainly from home or didn’t say left out.
County Westmeath has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Hazards
13th of 26B−52/100 Mid-table on hazards. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it compares well.
Homes estimated over the radon reference level, averaged over residents: 5.0% (Ireland 7.0%), 12th of 26.
Source: EPA radon map: the estimated share of homes over the reference level in each 10 km square, under each Small Area’s residents (Census 2022).
County Westmeath has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Growth
13th of 26B−54/100 Near the middle for growth. The whole-county figure carries this grade, and it compares well.
Since 2011: +11.7% (Ireland +12.2%), 12th of 26.
Source: CSO, census populations by county, 2011, 2016 and 2022 (F1003).
County Westmeath has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
County Westmeath beside its neighbours
| Westmeath | Meath | Longford | Offaly | Roscommon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C 3218th of 26 | A+ 962nd of 26 | D 1023rd of 26 | C+ 4016th of 26 | A 923rd of 26 |
| Safety | D 1221st official | B+ 726th official · 41% in top towns | D− 424th official | C+ 4018th official | A 924th official |
| Schools | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Cost of living | C+ 4015th official | C+ 4420th official · 51% in top towns | B+ 681st official | B+ 7211th official | A 882nd official |
| Health | B 6014th official | A+ 1005th official · 36% in top towns | D− 026th official | D− 423rd official | B+ 6815th official |
| Jobs & income | C+ 449th official | A 923rd official · 28% in top towns | D− 024th official | B− 5210th official | C+ 4419th official |
| Getting about | B+ 7010th official | B 569th official · 0% in top towns | B 6013th official | C+ 4415th official | D− 026th official |
| Hazards | B− 5212th official | A− 7614th official · 77% in top towns | B+ 689th official | A+ 1002nd official | C+ 4013th official |
| Growth | B− 5411th official | A+ 962nd official · 67% in top towns | A+ 1001st official | C− 2420th official | B+ 748th official |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for Ireland. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, towns, villages and countryside together: Census 2022 Small Areas added up, Garda station areas weighted by the people living in them, or the CSO’s own county table. It is ranked against Ireland’s other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for Ireland. Quarters are of people, not towns, so a county with a city isn’t marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the county’s standing among Ireland’s 26 counties: the two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, health 14, jobs and income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, hazards 4 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it can’t show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Schools aren’t graded: the Education Act 1998 (s.53) rules out school league tables. No life expectancy is published by county, so health uses age-standardised measures instead. The county figure for hazards is radon: the towns’ flood measure needs LiDAR, which covers towns, not the countryside. The RTB publishes no rent for the State as a whole, so rents are set beside the middle county. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking Irish towns against each other only, run #58 of 4 November 2026 · County figures: Census 2022 Small Areas added up by county; the CSO’s county tables (prices, incomes, mortality, population); Garda station-area crime rates (CSO); RTB rents; the EPA radon map. 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).