Photo: Eeno11 · CC BY 3.0Fewer of Dunlavin’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 86% of Irish towns
Getting to work, school or college from Dunlavin takes 27.7 minutes on average; for 13%, it takes an hour or more. Unemployment in Dunlavin stood at 12% at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. Dunlavin grades C− for jobs and income.
The work figures that set Dunlavin apart
Fewer people in work than most towns
62% of people aged 15 to 64 in Dunlavin had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
12% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 3.1% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Dunlavin: C−
On four measures together, it is better than 22% of Irish towns.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Dunlavin: 62%
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Wicklow, 1 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
3.1% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 48% 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, 46% 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.
Where Dunlavin’s residents work, by industry
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 23% (against 25% across Irish towns), and farming, forestry and fishing is the smallest of the seven, at 1.3%.
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.
Median household income: €54,450 a year
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 51% of Irish towns.
Dunlavin’s median is 15% below County Wicklow’s (€64,077). Of the county’s 9 towns of 2,500 or more, 6 have a higher median. After tax, the median is €48,840. The State median is €60,123, 10% above Dunlavin’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
8.6% of Dunlavin’s commuters walk, cycle, or take the bus or train
Driving dominates: 84% go to work by car or van. Working mainly from home: 6.8% here, 11% in the middle of Irish towns. Almost no one goes by bus or rail, against 6% and 0.9% in the middle of Irish towns. The middle of Irish towns has 10% walking and 2.4% cycling; here it is 8.1% and 0.5%.
Census 2022 (CSO SAPS), means of travel to work.
A run to work or school from Dunlavin much like the middle of Irish towns
Among County Wicklow’s 9 towns counted, 1 have shorter trips on average. Trips of under 15 minutes are 45% of the total, against 36% in the middle of County Wicklow. In the middle of County Wicklow, the trip averages 31.6 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 Wicklow, against 2019
4,688 people were signing on in County Wicklow in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count rose by 3%. It has stayed below its 2019 average for the last 49 months. 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).
What adults in Dunlavin do: 46% are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 20% are retired (against 15%).
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, Dunlavin grades D−
Better than 4% of Irish towns 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.
Around Dunlavin: jobs, pay and the commute
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunlavin | 62% | 12% | €54K | 27.7 min | C− | D− |
| Kilcullen 8.5 km | 73% | 6.4% | €66K | 28.6 min | A− | D |
| Athgarvan 11.5 km | 70% | 6.7% | €95K | 29.6 min | A− | D− |
| Curragh Camp 12.9 km | 65% | 12% | €62K | 28.8 min | C+ | D |
| Baltinglass 13.7 km | 63% | 12% | €52K | 34.5 min | D− | D |
| Newbridge 15 km | 67% | 9.3% | €64K | 30.7 min | B− | B− |
| Blessington 16.2 km | 69% | 7.2% | €69K | 31.6 min | B | 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 Dunlavin, 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 Dunlavin
What is the unemployment rate in Dunlavin?
12% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 3.1% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Dunlavin a good place to find work?
Dunlavin earns a C− for jobs and income, better than 22% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together.
How do people in Dunlavin get to work?
84% of commuters go by car or van, 8.1% walk, 0.5% cycle and 0% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 6.8% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Dunlavin?
Trips to work, school or college take 27.7 minutes on average; 13% take an hour or more and 45% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Dunlavin?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Dunlavin’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Dunlavin 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 Dunlavin 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).