Photo: Upsilona · CC BY-SA 3.091% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, more than in 97% of Irish towns
Against a figure of 24% across Ireland’s towns, the share of one-person households in Carnew comes in at 30%. The 2022 Census counted 1,233 residents in 477 households. The census found that 5% of households live in a flat or apartment in the town. With a median age of 39.6, Carnew is older than three quarters of Irish towns.
A +10% change since 2016: Carnew grew faster than 64% of Irish towns
Residents at the 2016 and 2022 censuses, on 2022 boundaries, and the change beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Change, 2016 to 2022
CSO publishes yearly population estimates for counties and regions, not towns, so the trend is two censuses rather than a line; 2016 ages aren’t on 2022 boundaries, so there is no change by age.
Across Ireland’s towns, the typical town changed +8%; across Co. Wicklow’s towns, +13%.
Above 60% of Irish towns: 15% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 5–9: 7.9% of residents. On average, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 50% of Irish towns. In Bray, the oldest of Co. Wicklow’s towns by this measure, it is 16%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Wicklow 50.8%, Ireland 51.2%.
21% of residents belong to the professional, managerial and technical classes
CSO’s social classes (everyone, by their own or their family’s occupation), the occupations of those at work, and where residents lived a year before the Census.
Residents by social class · all residents
Where residents lived a year earlier
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Workers by occupation · residents at work
Across Ireland’s towns, 34% of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Carnew, 21% and 22%. Fewer residents who moved in within the year than in 62% of Irish towns: 6.7%.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 3.4%, a lower share than 74% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Wicklow’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
44% of households are parents with children; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 43%. Households average 2.6 people. As a reference point, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns.
Carnew sits below 67% of Irish towns for households without a car or van (14%)
Home types, cars and the internet, by household. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Internet at home · share of households
At home, 77% have broadband, while 19% have no internet access (typical: 7.6%). As a reference point, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns. The census found that 0.4% of homes are holiday homes in Carnew.
Household income, middle of the range: €45,140 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €45,140 gross, 25% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Countywide, Co. Wicklow has a median of €64,080.
Only 11% of residents were born outside Ireland in Carnew
Place of birth and citizenship as CSO asks them: born abroad includes Irish citizens born abroad.
Born abroad, by birthplace · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Citizens of another country, by citizenship; CSO counts dual Irish citizens as Irish.
Other languages · share of all residents
CSO’s small-area tables don’t give the year people arrived.
The most common home language after English is Polish (1.9%); in all 8.8% speak another language, and 2% speak English not well or not at all. Against that, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Lower than in 94% of Irish towns: 7.1% of residents are citizens of another country.
Only 0.5% of residents speak Irish daily outside education in Carnew
Residents aged 3 and over who can speak Irish, and how often they speak it outside education (CSO).
Irish speakers · residents aged 3 and over
No town in Co. Wicklow beats Bray (1.4%). Across Ireland’s towns, the share of daily speakers of Irish outside education is 1.1%.
Fewer residents with no religion than 88% of Irish towns: 11%
Ethnic or cultural background and religion, in CSO’s categories, as people described themselves.
Ethnic groups other than White Irish · all residents
White Irish, not charted: 91% of Carnew · Co. Wicklow’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White Irish: Other White (6.3%), Other, including mixed (2.5%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.5%). For residents with no religion, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 17%. Residents who said they are Catholic are more common here than in 87% of Irish towns.
30% of residents 15 and over are married, below 77% of Irish towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, and unpaid carers.
Partnership status · residents 15 and over
The small-area tables count carers, not their hours of care.
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 5.8%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
17% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 93% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate qualifications are held by 3.5% of adults here, while 19% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). The usual figure: 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
1 of the 5 nearest towns are older than Carnew
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Wicklow’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Wicklow’s towns of 2,500 or more and over the Irish towns of 2,500 or more (city totals left out). Percentiles are within Ireland only.
- The earlier population is an estimate. Towns had no official 2016 count on today’s boundaries, so the 2016 figure is CSO’s electoral-division count shared out by where people lived in 2022: read a small town in a large rural division loosely.
- What these tables don’t give. The small-area tables give no year of arrival and no hours of care, and a town’s electoral divisions run past its edge, so the page doesn’t split a town into named areas (a city lists its neighbourhoods).
- The census’s own words. Born abroad, citizenship, ethnic or cultural background and religion are CSO’s questions and categories; the page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Carnew’s residents
What is the population of Carnew?
Carnew had 1,233 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 10% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Carnew?
The median age is 39.6. 27% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Carnew?
36% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (392 people), and 0.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Carnew?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 11% were born abroad and 7.1% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Carnew?
79% are Catholic, 11% have no religion and 9.5% another religion; 5.4% didn’t say.
Is Carnew good for families?
44% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 27% of residents are under 18. Schools near Carnew are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Carnew?
Median gross household income in Carnew was €45,140 in 2022, against €64,080 across Co. Wicklow and €60,120 for Ireland.
Sources: CSO, Census of Population 2022, Small Area Population Statistics · CSO PxStat FP009 (2016 by electoral division) · CSO GPIIA, household income 2022. 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).