Photo: Upsilona · CC BY-SA 3.0Working-age people in Carnew have jobs less often than in 94% of Irish towns
Carnew grades D− for jobs and income. Out of work at the 2022 census: 15% of the labour force in Carnew (the middle of Irish towns: 9.2%). The average trip to work, school or college from Carnew takes 26.4 minutes; for 12%, it takes an hour or more.
The work figures that set Carnew apart
Fewer people in work than most towns
58% of people aged 15 to 64 in Carnew 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; 4.6% 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 Carnew had €45,140 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.
Jobs & income in Carnew: graded D−
Better than 4% of Irish towns across four measures.
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.
In Carnew, 58% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
None of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Wicklow has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Long-term unemployment, a year or more out of work, covered 4.6% of people aged 15 and over. Among the unemployed, 55% had been out of work that long. Counting everyone aged 15 and over, retirees and students included, 47% 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 income per household in Carnew: €45,140
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 77% of Irish towns.
That puts Carnew 30% below the median for County Wicklow as a whole, €64,077. Every town of 2,500 or more in the county has a higher median. Net of tax, it is €40,700. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 33% above Carnew’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
The industries Carnew’s residents work in
The second-largest is Commerce and trade, at 22% (against 26% across Irish towns), and public administration is the smallest of the seven, at 4.2%.
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.
Car-free commutes: 14% of workers in Carnew
78% go by car or van, against 74% in the middle of County Wicklow. Mainly from home: 7.3% of residents in work, next to 11% in the middle of Irish towns. The middle of Irish towns has 6% going by bus; here it is 0.5%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
Getting to work or school from Carnew takes about as long as in the middle of Irish towns
Trips of under 15 minutes are 47% of the total, against 36% in the middle of County Wicklow. Across County Wicklow, the middle town’s trips average 31.6 minutes. Among County Wicklow’s 9 towns counted, none averages a shorter trip.
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.
How the count signing on in County Wicklow has moved
4,688 people were signing on in County Wicklow in September 2026. Set against a year before, the count in September 2026 rose by 3%. For 49 months in a row now, it has been under its 2019 average. Its lowest month since 2019 was November 2024, at 4,389. County Wicklow: signing on peaked in July 2020 at 6,173, 13% 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).
Work, study, retirement: 47% of adults in Carnew are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 7.9% 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.
How walkable Carnew is: D
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.
The work picture around Carnew
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnew | 58% | 15% | €45K | 26.4 min | D− | D |
| Tinahely 10 km | 64% | 9.5% | €49K | 29.1 min | C | C+ |
| Bunclody 12.6 km | 65% | 15% | €44K | 24.5 min | C− | C |
| Ferns 13.7 km | 61% | 14% | €43K | 26.3 min | D | B+ |
| Gorey 14.3 km | 64% | 12% | €50K | 28.5 min | C− | C+ |
| Tullow 19 km | 64% | 12% | €47K | 25.1 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 Carnew, 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 Carnew
What is the unemployment rate in Carnew?
15% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 4.6% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Carnew a good place to find work?
Carnew earns a D− for jobs and income, better than 4% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Carnew get to work?
78% of commuters go by car or van, 12% walk, 0.5% cycle and 1.2% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 7.3% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Carnew?
Trips to work, school or college take 26.4 minutes on average; 12% take an hour or more and 47% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Carnew?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Carnew’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Carnew 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 Carnew 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).