Living in Carlow
In Carlow, tenants pay an average rent of €1,347 a month (2025).
The foreign population count was 5,942 at the end of 2022. Annual PM2.5 in the air was 7 µg/m³ at the end of 2024.
Which Ireland-wide rules apply when you move to Carlow?
National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.
Housing and cost
No city-level rent figure is published for Carlow. The available city-level cost figures remain below.
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited | 75.99 EUR/month | 30 Sept 2026 | eir 500 Mbps broadband5Official · national market |
| Mobile plan, 10 GB | 39.99 EUR/month | 30 Sept 2026 | eir Mobile Essential6Official · national market |
| Average monthly rent (whole dwelling) | 1,347 EUR/month | 31 Dec 2025 | RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types12Official |
Is Carlow a good place to live?
There is no universal answer. The profile scores below show who the available published evidence may suit; they are a decision aid, not a personal recommendation.
Worked out from these numbers
How international is the population?
21.7% of residents hold a foreign nationality — 5,942 of 27,351 people. This counts nationality, not place of birth, so long-settled residents who naturalised are not in it.
Work and income
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average gross earnings | 4,253 EUR/month | 31 Dec 2025 | NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)9Official · county |
| Median gross salary (regional) | 3,591 EUR/month | 31 Dec 2025 | NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)9Official · county |
What does a salary buy in Carlow?
Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.
RentInternetMobileLeft over
Line-by-line breakdown and sources
| Each month | € |
|---|---|
| Take-home payOECD Taxing Wages 2025, single, no children. Includes central and local income tax and employee social contributions. | €2,988 |
| Rentaverage rent of a whole dwelling · official · RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types · 2025-12-31 | − €1,347 |
| Internet€76 · official · eir 500 Mbps broadband · 2026-09-30 | − €76 |
| Mobile plan€40 · official · eir Mobile Essential · 2026-09-30 | − €40 |
| Other everyday billsnot published for this city: public transport pass, utilities | — |
| Left overbefore the bills this city does not publish | €1,525 |
Public employment offices in Carlow
Exact offices linked to this city from official sources. Check the office page before visiting because hours and appointment rules can change.
Carlow — Verified local office
Kennedy Avenue, Carlow, R93 EC57, R93 EC57
0818 405060 · carlow@welfare.ie
Only exact city-linked public offices are listed; this is not a complete directory of private recruiters or every employment provider. Sources checked through 11 Aug 2026.
Safety
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents | 4,566 incidents per 100,000 | 31 Dec 2025 | CJQ05 — Recorded crime incidents by Garda Region, Type of Offence, and Quarter2Official · regional context |
Mobility and administration
Carlow's nearest airport was DUB, 79 km away and offered 144 direct destinations.
Language courses and integration
No exact city-level course record is currently published for Carlow. These verified national programmes may still apply; use the official programme page to check local availability.
Education and Training Board adult English language skills and ESOL — State Language Course
The 16 Education and Training Boards across Ireland
For adult migrants, refugees, adults who need to improve English.
Local Authority Integration Teams (LAITs) — Newcomer Adaptation
Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration
For new arrivals, people who applied for International Protection, refugees, people from Ukraine.
Climate and air quality
Monthly mean temperatures were 4.2°C in January and 14.7°C in July.
Within WHO 2021 guidelineAbove WHO, within EU limitAbove EU legal limitCity annual mean · µg/m³
City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.
Carlow 7.0
Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 — annual mean | 7 µg/m³ | 31 Dec 2024 | European Environment Agency7Official · nearest-station reading |
| Monthly extreme high temperature | Jan 13.64 · Feb 13.35 · Mar 16.31 · Apr 19.41 · May 22.97 · Jun 25.13 · Jul 25.67 · Aug 25.93 · Sep 23.52 · Oct 18.72 · Nov 15.33 · Dec 13.13 °C | 31 Dec 2001 | NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center8Official · coordinate grid |
| Monthly extreme low temperature | Jan -7.83 · Feb -4.88 · Mar -5.67 · Apr -3.51 · May -1.03 · Jun 2.88 · Jul 5.27 · Aug 4.7 · Sep 1.76 · Oct -1.27 · Nov -3.45 · Dec -6.4 °C | 31 Dec 2001 | NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center8Official · coordinate grid |
| Average temperature by month | Jan 4.2 · Feb 4.14 · Mar 5.23 · Apr 7.58 · May 10.41 · Jun 13.23 · Jul 14.67 · Aug 14.23 · Sep 12.38 · Oct 9.6 · Nov 6.53 · Dec 4.71 °C | 31 Dec 2001 | NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center8Official · coordinate grid |
Population and city profile
By nationality
National passport78.3%Foreign residents21.7%
Calculated from the population and foreign-resident facts on this page.
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign-resident share | 22 % | 31 Dec 2022 | Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)1Official |
| Foreign residents | 5,942 people | 31 Dec 2022 | Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)1Official |
| Population | 27,351 people | 3 Apr 2022 | CSO Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics — Towns/Urban Areas (BUA)4Official |
Alternatives for people set on Carlow
Three places for the three reasons people leave a city on the shortlist: stay in the region, stay in the country, or keep the budget and change the country. A percentage appears only where both cities publish that metric from the same source, period and grain. Distances are straight lines — travel times are not collected yet.
Athy as a Carlow alternative in the same region
18 km away, better on 1 of 3 metrics measured the same way, worse on 1.
- Median gross pay, region: €3,969 Athy vs €3,591 Carlow+11%
- Foreign residents: 16.9% Athy vs 22.0% Carlow−23%
- Recorded crime, per 100k: 4,566 Athy vs 4,566 Carlowsame level
Cities near Carlow
Published cities within 25 km, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.
Alternative cities in Ireland
Other cities in Ireland to compare with Carlow, nearest in population first.
How does Carlow compare?
Pick a city. The answer appears here and the address bar keeps it, so the comparison can be shared; the page stays Carlow's.
Carlow in rankings
Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Carlow when the national insurance or residence conditions are met.
Healthcare access follows the country-wide insurance rules; local capacity facts remain city data and are not used as proof of eligibility.
Open the official coverage guideSchool for children who move here. School is compulsory from age 6 to 16, and public school is free. Newly arrived pupils get support in the school language: English as additional language support (whole-school approach, National Strategy Literacy and Numeracy 2011). How to enrol a child (gov.ie).
A country-wide rule for Ireland; Carlow's school authority applies it locally.
Sources: eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu · 2026.
Common questions
Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.
What is the typical salary around Carlow?
The median gross salary is 3,591 EUR/month. Source: NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025).
Is the air quality good in Carlow?
The annual PM2.5 mean is 7 µg/m³. The WHO 2021 guideline is 5 µg/m³ and the EU limit value is 25 µg/m³, so this reading is above the WHO guideline but within the EU limit. Source: European Environment Agency.
How safe is Carlow?
Police recorded 4,566 incidents per 100,000. This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source. Source: CJQ05 — Recorded crime incidents by Garda Region, Type of Offence, and Quarter.
How many people live in Carlow?
The published population is 27,351 people. Source: CSO Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics — Towns/Urban Areas (BUA).
How many foreign residents live in Carlow?
5,942 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO).
Is Carlow a good place to live?
Carlow may suit different people for different reasons. The page's profile scores compare published cost, work, housing, safety, healthcare and other available factors; they are a decision aid, not a universal recommendation.
Which cities are near Carlow?
Tullow, Athy are near Carlow. Typed relationship labels are shown where published; other rows use straight-line distance from admitted coordinates.
Cite this page
Open a format to select or copy this ImmigrationDB compilation citation. The native disclosure and text fallback work without JavaScript.
APA citation
ImmigrationDB. (2026, October 25). Carlow, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; version f9ed1e32904255d7c8d09d9437575d7d]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/carlow/ Retrieved 2026-10-25. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/BibTeX citation
@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_carlow-ireland-population-rent-salary-cost-of-living_e53e8f25a5ee,
author = {ImmigrationDB},
title = {Carlow, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living},
publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-25},
version = {f9ed1e32904255d7c8d09d9437575d7d},
url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/carlow/},
note = {Retrieved 2026-10-25. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}Markdown citation
[Carlow, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/carlow/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version f9ed1e32904255d7c8d09d9437575d7d; retrieved 2026-10-25; built 2026-10-25.This citation identifies the ImmigrationDB compilation/page. Underlying source publishers and datasets retain their own terms; inspect the Sources section and cite those records separately. View the underlying source records.
Sources
- Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO) cso.ie · checked 2026-08-03
- CJQ05 — Recorded crime incidents by Garda Region, Type of Offence, and Quarter CJQ05 · ws.cso.ie · checked 2026-10-05
- Coordinate identity evidence services-eu1.arcgis.com · checked 2026-09-06
- CSO Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics — Towns/Urban Areas (BUA) CSO Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics · cso.ie · checked 2026-09-23
- eir 500 Mbps broadband eir.ie · checked 2026-09-15
- eir Mobile Essential home.eir.ie · checked 2026-09-15
- European Environment Agency air.discomap.eea.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-05
- NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center power.larc.nasa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
- NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025) ws.cso.ie · checked 2026-10-07
- OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
Show 3 more sources
- OurAirports davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-08-03
- RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types data.cso.ie · checked 2026-09-18
- Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Every value here carries its source and date — tell us what you found and we will re-check it against the source.