Highest and lowest-earnings across Ireland revealed by CSO

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest median gross household earnings by local authority area in Ireland in 2022, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has found.

Households in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had a median gross income of €84,991, approximately double that of households in Donegal (€42,497), the region with the lowest median gross household income.

Just under half (47.5%) of households in Ireland had a gross household income of less than €60,000 in 2022, increasing to almost two-thirds (63.4%) in Donegal and falling to a third (34.7%) in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

At the upper end of the income distribution, 4.3% of households had a gross household income of €200,000 or above, decreasing to 1% of households in Donegal and rising to 14.6% in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

Credit: Central Statistics Office (CSO)

The majority (85%) of gross household income came from market income in 2022, comprised of employee income (66.3%), self-employment income (11.2%), private or occupational pensions (5.5%), and rental income (1.9%).

The remaining 15% came from social transfers, primarily pension (6.1%), illness, disability and caring (3.5%) and working age income supports (2.1%).

The administrative county where the largest share of gross income came from market income was Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (92.4%), while that with the least was again Donegal (74.8%).

Belmullet in Mayo (49.8%), Carndonagh (47.3%) and Glenties (45.8%), both in Donegal, were the local electoral areas that had the largest proportion of households where social welfare transfers was the majority of income.

The top three LEAs where social welfare pension was the majority of household income were Belmullet in Mayo (27.8% of households), followed by Glenties (24.7%), and Carndonagh (24.0%), both in Donegal.

The three LEAs with the highest proportion of households where working age social welfare was the majority of household income, ie social transfers excluding child benefits and state pension, were Tallaght South (20.4%), Longford (20.1%), and Waterford City South (19.7%).

In Munster Co. Cork was the local authority area with the highest median gross household income (€60,906), while Kerry had the lowest (€48,320). In Connacht, Co. Galway highest median income (€59,895), and the lowest was in Leitrim (€45,267).

In comparison to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Longford (€47,217) had the lowest median income in province of Leinster, and Cavan (€52,321) had the highest in Ulster, as compared to Donegal.

By local electoral area (LEA), Stillorgan in Dublin had the highest median gross household income (€99,352), while Carndonagh in Donegal had the lowest (€35,614).

Four of the top five-earning local electoral areas were in Dublin: Stillorgan, 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), while 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, 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).

“This release, published as a CSO Frontier Series Output, produces household income statistics using administrative data," said Eva O'Regan, statistician in the income, consumption and wealth division of the CSO.

"Estimates are provided at multiple levels of geography, including by county, administrative county (local authority), Local Electoral Area (LEA), and electoral division.

"It is worth noting that administrative data is pseudonymised prior to any statistical analysis taking place to protect the privacy of individuals."

* This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.ie