Photo: Simon Mortimer · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of households of parents with children than 99% of Irish towns: 63%
The share of shared households of unrelated adults is 0.9%, against 4.7% across Ireland’s towns. Census day 2022: 3,482 residents and 1,144 households in Rathnew. On the census count, just over three quarters of residents said they are Catholic. Households in flats are rarer here than in two thirds of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Rathnew
A town of families
44% of households are couples with children and 19% lone parents with children, more than in 99% of Irish towns and the highest share in Co. Wicklow; 28% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing faster than most
Rathnew went from about 2,770 people in 2016 to 3,482 in 2022, +26%: faster growth than in 95% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Rathnew’s residents are under 33.4 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 13% are 15 to 24 and 7.3% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Growth of +26% since 2016 puts Rathnew 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 median change is +8%; across Co. Wicklow’s towns, +13%.
Half of Rathnew is under 33.4, younger than 91% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
In Rathnew, 13% of residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 12% across Ireland’s towns. The census found that 7.3% of residents are 65 or over in the town.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Rathnew, 33.4. The typical town is 37.6.
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%.
In Rathnew, 12% of residents 15 and over are students, more than in 71% of Irish towns
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
Among the working population, skilled trades make up 17%, against a typical 11%. Against that, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns. For Rathnew, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 7.2%.
Rathnew households average 3.1 people, larger than in 91% 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.
Set against 24% across Ireland’s towns, 18% of households are one person living alone in Rathnew.
Only 14% of households have no car or van in Rathnew
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 0.1%. Every 7th household or so has no car or van, the 3rd highest share in Co. Wicklow.
Median household income: €50,300 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 €50,300 gross, 16% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Countywide in Co. Wicklow, the median is €64,080.
Fewer residents born abroad than 87% of Irish towns: 14%
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.
Here 9.2% of residents are citizens of another country, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 15%. For residents born outside Ireland, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 22%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born outside the EU and UK (4.2%) and elsewhere in the EU (3.6%).
0.7% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, below 82% of Irish towns
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
The ability to speak Irish extends to 1,020 residents (32% of those aged 3 and over). The usual figure: 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
83% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, a share 68% of Irish towns don’t reach
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: 83% of Rathnew · Co. Wicklow’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents with no religion is 15% in Rathnew and 17% across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (9.3%), Asian or Asian Irish (3.3%) and Other, including mixed (2.3%). Across the comparison, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
31% of residents 15 and over are married, below 76% 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.
Unpaid carers make up 4.9%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. As a reference point, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Fewer adults with a degree or higher than 89% of Irish towns: 20%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Rathnew’s adults, 5.6% went on to postgraduate study and 14% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Against that, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
41 towns of 2,955 to 4,109 people: this is the 2nd youngest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Taylor's Hill (31.8) and the oldest Newcastle (42.5). Nearest to Rathnew in age: Taylor's Hill (31.8), Kinnegad (33.8) and Cork City Centre (34).
The towns around Rathnew are all older
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 Rathnew’s residents
What is the population of Rathnew?
Rathnew had 3,482 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 26% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rathnew?
The median age is 33.4, younger than 91% of Irish towns. 33% are under 18 and 7.3% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rathnew?
32% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,020 people), and 0.7% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rathnew?
83% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 14% were born abroad and 9.2% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rathnew?
76% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 9.3% another religion; 3.3% didn’t say.
Is Rathnew good for families?
63% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 33% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rathnew are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rathnew?
Median gross household income in Rathnew was €50,300 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).