Photo: 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than 99% of Irish towns: 1.3%
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (9.8%), Rathdrum is below 96% of Irish towns. 2,264 residents in 790 households: that is Rathdrum at the 2022 Census. The share of households of parents with children stands at 50%. Few places have so few households in flats: 7.6% here, fewer than in 76% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Rathdrum
Growing faster than most
Rathdrum went from about 1,800 people in 2016 to 2,264 in 2022, +26%: faster growth than in 95% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Growth of +26% since 2016 puts Rathdrum ahead of 95% 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%.
Rathdrum is younger than 58% of Irish towns: a median age of 37
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 40–44, with nearly one in ten residents. 13% of residents are 65 or over, a lower share than in 56% 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
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Wicklow 50.8%, Ireland 51.2%.
A higher share of residents who moved in within the year than 77% of Irish towns, at 10%
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
By its share of students among residents 15 and over (8.9%), Rathdrum is below 79% of Irish towns. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Ireland’s towns: 7.5%.
2.8 people per household, more than in 66% 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.
Here 23% of households are one person living alone, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 24%.
Fewer car-free households than 67% of Irish towns: 13%
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
Holiday homes are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 0.5%. For comparison, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns.
Median gross household income: €56,770 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Households here have a median gross income of €56,770, 6% lower than across Ireland (€60,120). Co. Wicklow comes in at €64,080 at the median.
Fewer residents born abroad than 83% of Irish towns: 15%
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 share of residents with another country’s citizenship trails just over four fifths of Irish towns: 9%. The most common home language after English is Polish (2.5%); in all 16% speak another language, and 1.2% speak English not well or not at all. Measured more widely, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
In Rathdrum, 35% of residents can speak Irish
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%). At 1%, the share of daily speakers of Irish outside education is lower than in 56% of Irish towns.
Rathdrum: 74% of residents said they are Catholic, above 69% of Irish towns
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: 82% of Rathdrum · Co. Wicklow’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White Irish come Other White (9.1%), Asian or Asian Irish (6.2%) and Other, including mixed (1.2%). The usual figure: 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish are more common here than in 63% of Irish towns. By contrast, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns, against 16% in Rathdrum.
Fewer married residents 15 and over than 66% of Irish towns: 33%
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.
Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 4.9%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Rathdrum ranks below 64% of Irish towns on adults with a degree or higher: 30%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Primary level or earlier: 15%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. Adults with a degree or higher make up 36% across Ireland’s towns.
Around Rathdrum, 4 of 6 towns have a higher median age
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 Rathdrum’s residents
What is the population of Rathdrum?
Rathdrum had 2,264 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 26% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rathdrum?
The median age is 37. 28% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rathdrum?
35% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (700 people), and 1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rathdrum?
82% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 15% were born abroad and 9% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rathdrum?
74% are Catholic, 16% have no religion and 9.5% another religion; 5.9% didn’t say.
Is Rathdrum good for families?
50% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 28% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rathdrum are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rathdrum?
Median gross household income in Rathdrum was €56,770 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).