Earning a living in Bree
9.4% of the labour force in Bree was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. Travel time from Bree to work, school or college: 29.5 minutes on average, an hour or longer for 11%. The Jobs & income Grade leaves out Bree: it has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts.
The work figures that set Bree apart
Work near the middle
70% of people aged 15 to 64 in Bree had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
9.4% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 4% 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.
Bree isn’t graded for jobs and income
Bree has under 1,000 residents, where the grade starts. The figures on this page are still its own.
In Bree, 29% of residents in work are in professional services, health and education
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 21% (against 26% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 5.6%.
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 share in work in Bree: 70% of 15-to-64s
All 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Wexford have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
4% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 67% 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, 58% 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.
Median household income in Bree is €62,140
Before tax, 2022; the middle of Irish towns is €57,760.
Bree’s median is 21% above County Wexford’s (€51,437). No town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. After tax, the median is €53,380. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 3% below Bree’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
In Bree, 7.1% of commuters leave the car behind
By bus: 0.7% of commuters, next to 6% in the middle of Irish towns. 4.3% walk and 1.4% cycle to work, against 10% and 2.4% in the middle of Irish towns. Driving dominates: 82% go to work by car or van.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
A run to work or school from Bree much like the middle of Irish towns
In County Wexford, 4 of 5 towns counted average a shorter trip. Trips of under 15 minutes are 30% of the total, against 44% in the middle of County Wexford. Trips of 15 to 44 minutes are the most common, at 53% (middle of County Wexford: 39%). For the middle of County Wexford, the average trip is 25.2 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.
People signing on in County Wexford, against 2019
6,520 people were signing on in County Wexford in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count fell by 1%. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 73 months.
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).
Most of Bree works: 58% of adults are in work
The mix is close to Irish towns’ as a whole.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), principal economic status of people aged 15 and over; occupations of those at work, in three broad groups.
Getting around Bree on foot
Not graded: the Walkability grade starts at 1,000 residents.
Fewest residents live within 800 m of a pharmacy: 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.
Neighbouring places to Bree, compared
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bree | 70% | 9.4% | €62K | 29.5 min | — | — |
| Enniscorthy 8.2 km | 59% | 17% | €42K | 25.2 min | D− | C+ |
| Castlebridge 12.1 km | 68% | 9.1% | €53K | 24.8 min | B | C− |
| Wexford 14.5 km | 66% | 11% | €47K | 21.4 min | B− | B− |
| Ferns 18.6 km | 61% | 14% | €43K | 26.3 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 Bree, 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 Bree
What is the unemployment rate in Bree?
9.4% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 4% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
How do people in Bree get to work?
82% of commuters go by car or van, 4.3% walk, 1.4% cycle and 1.4% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 11% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Bree?
Trips to work, school or college take 29.5 minutes on average; 11% take an hour or more and 30% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Bree?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Bree’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Bree 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 Bree 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).