This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example, new administrative data sources. For further information on the data sources, linking procedures and limitations of this report, see the Background Notes.
The income distribution of Ireland is positively skewed, which is typical of income distributions. As a result, the mean income is higher than the median, reflecting the impact of high-income households on the average. The median is often preferred in skewed distributions because it is not affected by extreme values.
Administrative Counties correspond with the Local Authorities, covering 31 city and county councils. For example, Cork County refers to the region administered by Cork County Council. The administrative county with the highest gross household income in Ireland in 2022 was Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, with a median gross income of €84,991 and a mean of €122,615. After the deduction of income tax, USC and PRSI, the median net household income of this area was €66,950, and the mean net was €84,382.
The administrative county with the lowest gross household income in 2022 was Donegal, with a median gross income of €42,497 and a mean of €54,259. The median net household income of this area was €39,083, and the mean net was €45,840.
With regard in particular to border regions, it should be noted that households containing persons working abroad and not linked to administrative earnings data in Ireland have been excluded from analysis, as their household income cannot be accurately determined. Such exclusions may lead to biases in the estimates for these regions. For further information, see the Background Notes.
For Census 2022, the Central Statistics Office introduced a new way of defining urban areas, Built Up Areas (BUAs). Where the word 'town' is used in this release, it is referring to the BUAs with a population of least 1,500 persons. For more information about BUAs, please see Census 2022 Urban Settlement Boundaries and Built Up Areas.
The top three towns with the highest median gross household income were all in Leinster. These were Malahide in Dublin with a median gross household income of €97,168, Ratoath in Meath (€96,273), and Donabate in Dublin (€95,871).
Bearna in Galway was fourth highest in the state, and the highest in Connacht, with a median gross household income of €90,881.
The town with the highest median gross household income in Munster was Annacotty in Limerick (€90,182), while in in Ulster (part of) it was Kingscourt in Cavan (€54,739).
Lifford in Donegal had the lowest median gross household of €31,959.
For the purposes of Local Authority elections, each county and city are divided into Local Electoral Areas (LEAs). For further information see Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics.
Four of the five LEAs with the highest median gross household income were in Dublin: Stillorgan (€99,352), Blackrock (€94,381), Pembroke (€92,341), and Glencullen-Sandyford (€92,431). The fifth highest was Ratoath in Meath (€88,796).
The LEA in Dublin with the lowest median gross household income was Ballymun-Finglas (€53,184). The LEA with the lowest median gross household income in Leinster was Longford in Co. Longford (€44,945).
In Munster the top five LEAs with the highest median gross household income were all in Cork: Carrigaline (€74,781), followed by Cork City South East (€71,614), Cobh (€69,833), Macroom (€69,436) and Cork City South West (€67,489). The LEA in Munster with the lowest median gross household income was Bantry-West Cork (€41,452).
In Connacht the three highest income LEAs were in Galway. Athenry-Oranmore in Galway had a median gross household income of €70,629, followed by Gort-Kinvara (€70,126), and Galway City West (€68,698). The fourth highest in Connacht was Athlone in Roscommon (€64,694), and the fifth was Sligo-Drumcliff in Sligo (€61,587). The LEA in Connacht with the lowest median gross household income was Belmullet in Mayo (€36,923).
In Ulster (part of) the LEA with the highest median gross household income was Bailieborough-Cootehill in Cavan (€55,570), followed by Ballyjamesduff in Cavan (€55,162), Carrickmacross-Castleblayney in Monaghan (€51,541), Letterkenny in Donegal (€51,167), and Monaghan in Co. Monaghan (€50,596). The LEA with lowest income was Carndonagh in Donegal with a median gross household income of €35,614.
Electoral Divisions (EDs) are the smallest legally defined administrative areas in the State. For Census 2022, the CSO published data for 3,420 Electoral Divisions. For further information see Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics.
While estimates are provided at electoral division level, it should be noted that some EDs have a low number of households matched with income which may result in biases and particular care should be taken with border regions. For further information, see the Background Notes.
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