Photo: Simon Mortimer · CC BY-SA 2.0Working-age people in Rathnew have jobs less often than in 87% of Irish towns
Rathnew grades D for jobs and income, #294 of 321 Irish towns. At the 2022 census, 14% of the labour force in Rathnew had no job, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns.
The short version on work in Rathnew
Fewer people in work than most towns
61% of people aged 15 to 64 in Rathnew had a job at the 2022 census; the middle of Irish towns is 68%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
14% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns; 5.4% 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.
Jobs & income in Rathnew: graded D
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the unemployment rate.
Graded against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more; a shorter trip and less unemployment count in its favor.
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.
Rathnew at work: 61% of people aged 15 to 64
None of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in County Wicklow has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
5.4% of everyone aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more. Put another way, 59% 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, 55% 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 the people of Rathnew earn a living, by industry
The second-largest is Professional services, health and education, at 24% (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.
The middle household in Rathnew: €50,301 a year
Before tax, 2022: lower than in 62% of Irish towns.
Rathnew’s median is 21% below County Wicklow’s (€64,077). Of the county’s 8 other towns of 2,500 or more, 7 have a higher median. After tax, the median is €45,836. Across Ireland the median household has €60,123, 20% above Rathnew’s.
CSO Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022: median gross household income, from tax and welfare records linked to Census households.
11% of commuters in Rathnew go on foot, by bike or by public transport
Buses carry 3.7% of commuters, where the middle of Irish towns has 6%. Walking takes 5.4% of commuters and cycling 0.7%, where the middle of Irish towns has 10% and 2.4%. 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 Rathnew much like the middle of Irish towns
Among County Wicklow’s 9 towns counted, none averages a shorter trip. Trips of under 15 minutes are 45% of the total, against 36% in the middle of County Wicklow. The trip from the middle of County Wicklow 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.
The monthly count of people signing on in County Wicklow
4,688 people were signing on in County Wicklow in September 2026. Over the year to September 2026, the count 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).
Most of Rathnew works: 55% of adults are in work
Compared with Irish towns, 8.5% 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.
The walkability of Rathnew: D
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.
For jobs and income, Rathnew is 77th of 88 Irish towns of 2,500 to 4,700
| # | Town | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annacotty County Limerick | 3,398 | 71% | 6% | €90K | A+ |
| 2 | Glanmire County Cork | 4,454 | 71% | 5.6% | €87K | A+ |
| 3 | Grange Upper County Waterford | 2,510 | 71% | 7.4% | €65K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | Kilcoole County Wicklow | 4,569 | 70% | 7.3% | €70K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 27 | Newtownmountkennedy County Wicklow | 3,539 | 71% | 8% | €66K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 75 | Bundoran County Donegal | 2,599 | 63% | 14% | €37K | C− |
| 76 | Kylemore County Dublin | 2,557 | 64% | 12% | €49K | C− |
| 77 | Rathnew County Wicklow | 3,482 | 61% | 14% | €50K | D |
| 78 | Carndonagh County Donegal | 2,768 | 61% | 15% | €35K | D |
| 79 | Ballyhaunis County Mayo | 2,773 | 57% | 16% | €41K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 85 | Baltinglass County Wicklow | 2,611 | 63% | 12% | €52K | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 88 | Courtown County Wexford | 4,365 | 60% | 15% | €44K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Rathnew, and others in County Wicklow.
Rathnew and its neighbours: work and income
| Town | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathnew | 61% | 14% | €50K | 27 min | D | D |
| Wicklow 2.3 km | 68% | 9.3% | €64K | 32.3 min | B− | C |
| Ashford 3.5 km | 70% | 9.1% | €68K | 34.8 min | B− | D |
| Newcastle 9.4 km | 73% | 4.9% | €71K | 35.5 min | A− | D |
| Newtownmountkennedy 11.3 km | 71% | 8% | €66K | 30.7 min | B+ | B |
| Rathdrum 12.2 km | 67% | 10% | €57K | 33.1 min | C | C+ |
| Kilcoole 13.1 km | 70% | 7.3% | €70K | 30.2 min | B+ | 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 Rathnew, 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 Rathnew
What is the unemployment rate in Rathnew?
14% of the labour force was out of work at the 2022 census, against 9.2% in the middle of Irish towns. 5.4% of people aged 15 and over had been out of work for a year or more.
Is Rathnew a good place to find work?
Rathnew earns a D for jobs and income, better than 12% of Irish towns on household income, the share of 15-to-64s in work, unemployment and trip times together, #294 of 321 Irish towns.
How do people in Rathnew get to work?
82% of commuters go by car or van, 5.4% walk, 0.7% cycle and 4.7% take the bus or train. On census day 2022, 6.8% worked mainly from home.
How long is the commute from Rathnew?
Trips to work, school or college take 27 minutes on average; 11% take an hour or more and 45% under a quarter of an hour.
How many jobs are there in Rathnew?
Ireland doesn’t publish a count of the jobs based in each town. What the census does say is what Rathnew’s residents work at, wherever their job is: see What residents work in.
Where do people in Rathnew 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 Rathnew 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).