Living in Dundalk

In Dundalk, tenants pay an average rent of €1,394 a month (2025) and unemployment is 14.2% (2022).

For Dundalk, annual PM2.5 was 8 µg/m³ at the end of 2024.

Last checked 2026-10-0715 sources

Population43,112people3 Apr 2022Official source · Census 2022 BUA population

Median gross salary (region)3,969EUR/month31 Dec 2025Official source · NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)

Average rent1,394EUR/month31 Dec 2025Official source · RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types

Unemployment rate14.2%country median 9.4% — 52% aboveOfficial source · CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town

Recorded crime4,247incidents per 100,00031 Dec 2025Regional figureOfficial source · CJQ05 — Recorded crime incidents by Garda Region, Type of Offence, and Quarter

PM2.5, annual mean8µg/m³country median 7.0 — 14% aboveOfficial source · EEA Air Quality Annual Statistics — IE 2024 PM2.5 station data

Which Ireland-wide rules apply when you move to Dundalk?

National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.

Visa and entry rulesPassport-specific entry and national residence context.BenefitsCountry-wide eligibility and official application routes.Taxes in IrelandNational rates and thresholds that apply in Dundalk.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

No city-level rent figure is published for Dundalk. The available city-level cost figures remain below.

What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€76

Mobile plan, 10 GB€40

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	75.99 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	eir 500 Mbps broadband⁸Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	39.99 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	eir Mobile Essential⁹Official · national market
Average monthly rent (whole dwelling)	1,394 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types¹⁵Official

Is Dundalk 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.

Try your profile

Remote worker27%strong on work, weak on safety · range 18–36%

Skilled employee49%strong on work, weak on education · range 40–58%

Student37%strong on cost, weak on education · range 26–48%

Family44%strong on family, weak on education · range 33–55%

Retirement38%strong on air quality, weak on admin · range 27–49%

Work and income

What is the unemployment rate in Dundalk?

The unemployment rate is 14.2 % (April 2022). Source: CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town⁶

Unemployment across cities in IrelandUnemployment in Dundalk is 14.2%. Of 90 cities with data, 21 have unemployment of 6 to under 8%.

4–66–88–1010–1212–1414–1616–18

Dundalk 14.2%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Average gross earnings	4,928 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)¹²Official · county
Median gross salary (regional)	3,969 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)¹²Official · county
Unemployment rate	14.2 %country median 9.4%	3 Apr 2022	CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town⁶Official

What does a salary buy in Dundalk?

Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.

Left over each month€1,695of €3,205 take-home

Rent
Internet
Mobile
Left 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.	€3,205
Rentaverage rent of a whole dwelling · official · RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types · 2025-12-31	− €1,394
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	€1,695

Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Dundalk Salary needed to live in Dundalk

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Dundalk. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.

Country-level information

Intreo employment service — Public employment service

Department of Social Protection, Ireland

Job Search

Open official service

Open the Ireland service overview

Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Dundalk. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.

Safety

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents	4,247 incidents per 100,000	31 Dec 2025	CJQ05 — Recorded crime incidents by Garda Region, Type of Offence, and Quarter⁴Official · regional context

Mobility and administration

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Public transport access	Bus Éireann / Iarnród Éireann (NTA Dundalk)	27 Aug 2026	migrationfit.com¹⁰Official
Destinations from nearest airport	144 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights¹³Official
Nearest airport	DUB	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports¹⁴Official
Distance to nearest airport	64 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports¹⁴Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Dundalk. These verified national programmes may still apply; use the official programme page to check local availability.

Country-level information

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.

EnglishFree

Open official information

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.

EnglishIn Person

Open official information

Open the full Ireland section

National programme information is not treated as proof of a course location in Dundalk.

Find courses near Dundalk

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Dundalk?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 8 µg/m³ (2024) — above the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³ but within the EU limit of 25 µg/m³. Source: EEA Air Quality Annual Statistics — IE 2024 PM2.5 station data⁷

Annual mean at the measuring site(s) serving the city; current-day readings differ.

Air quality vs health guidelinesAnnual means against WHO 2021 guidelines and EU legal limits

Within WHO 2021 guidelineAbove WHO, within EU limitAbove EU legal limitCity annual mean · µg/m³

PM2.58WHO 5 · EU 25

City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.

PM2.5 across cities in IrelandAnnual PM2.5 in Dundalk is 8.0 µg/m³. Of 68 cities with data, 23 have annual PM2.5 of 7 to under 8 µg/m³.

5–66–77–88–99–1010–1111–1212–13

Dundalk 8.0

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	8 µg/m³country median 7.0	31 Dec 2024	EEA Air Quality Annual Statistics — IE 2024 PM2.5 station data⁷Official
Monthly extreme high temperature	Jan 12.91 · Feb 12.99 · Mar 14.89 · Apr 16.75 · May 20.02 · Jun 23.08 · Jul 23.75 · Aug 23.78 · Sep 21.15 · Oct 17.84 · Nov 15.28 · Dec 13.32 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹¹Official
Monthly extreme low temperature	Jan -2.54 · Feb -2.02 · Mar -1.88 · Apr -0.17 · May 2.62 · Jun 5.21 · Jul 7.75 · Aug 7.9 · Sep 5.29 · Oct 1.7 · Nov -0.59 · Dec -2.6 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹¹Official
Average temperature by month	Jan 5.4 · Feb 5.22 · Mar 6.08 · Apr 8.12 · May 10.71 · Jun 13.42 · Jul 14.88 · Aug 14.71 · Sep 13.14 · Oct 10.71 · Nov 7.89 · Dec 6.05 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹¹Official

Population and city profile

How many people live in Dundalk?

The published population was 43,112 people in 2022. Source: Census 2022 BUA population¹

Foreign residents and their share come from different publications that count different groups (for example citizens of another country, or people born abroad, or of foreign origin), so 6,145 is not 18% of the population. Each row names its source.

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport85.7%
Foreign residents14.3%

Calculated from the population and foreign-resident facts on this page.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Foreign-resident share	17.98 %	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)²Official
Foreign residents	6,145 people	3 Apr 2022	CSO Census 2022 F5003 — population by citizenship and town of usual residence⁵Official
City area	19.5 km²	31 Dec 2022	migrationfit.com¹⁰Official
Population density	2,211 people/km²	31 Dec 2022	migrationfit.com¹⁰Official
Female residents	22,021 people	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)³Official
Male residents	21,091 people	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)³Official
Population	43,112 people	3 Apr 2022	Census 2022 BUA population¹Official

Additional context

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Administrative handoff status	https://www.irishimmigration.ie/ url	27 Aug 2026	migrationfit.com¹⁰Official

Alternatives for people set on Dundalk

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.

Limerick as a Dundalk alternative in the same country

Better on 4 of 5 metrics measured the same way, worse on 0.

Residents: 102,287 Limerick vs 43,112 Dundalk+137%
Unemployment: 10.9% Limerick vs 14.2% Dundalk−23%
Nearest airport: 21.0 km Limerick vs 64.0 km Dundalk−67%
Foreign residents: 22.0% Limerick vs 18.0% Dundalk+23%
Annual PM2.5: 6.7 µg/m³ Limerick vs 8.0 µg/m³ Dundalk−17%

Full comparison More about Limerick

Alternative cities in Ireland

Other cities in Ireland to compare with Dundalk, nearest in population first.

All Ireland cities

Drogheda44,135 residents Swords40,776 residents Navan33,886 residents Bray33,512 residents Waterford60,079 residents Ennis27,923 residents

How does Dundalk compare?

Pick a city. The answer appears here and the address bar keeps it, so the comparison can be shared; the page stays Dundalk's.

Open the full comparison

Dundalk in rankings

#9 of 27 in Largest cities in Ireland #15 of 25 in Cities with cleanest air in Ireland #17 of 27 in Most international cities in Ireland #25 of 25 in Cities with lowest unemployment in Ireland

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Dundalk 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 guide

Country rule verified 2026-08-03.

School 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; Dundalk'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.

How many people live in Dundalk?

The published population was 43,112 people in 2022. Source: Census 2022 BUA population.

Is the air quality good in Dundalk?

What is the unemployment rate in Dundalk?

The unemployment rate is 14.2 % (April 2022). Source: CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town.

What is the typical salary around Dundalk?

The median gross salary is 3,969 EUR/month. Source: NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025).

How many foreign residents live in Dundalk?

6,145 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: CSO Census 2022 F5003 — population by citizenship and town of usual residence.

Is Dundalk a good place to live?

Dundalk 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.

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). Dundalk, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 3c990eb2d39ba94b17c2f5acf2ec30fb]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/dundalk/ Retrieved 2026-10-25. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_dundalk-ireland-population-rent-salary-cost-of-living_dac704f09842,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Dundalk, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-25},
  version = {3c990eb2d39ba94b17c2f5acf2ec30fb},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/dundalk/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-25. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Dundalk, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/dundalk/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 3c990eb2d39ba94b17c2f5acf2ec30fb; 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

JSON Markdown

Census 2022 BUA population cso.ie · checked 2026-07-14
Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO) cso.ie · checked 2026-08-03
Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO) ws.cso.ie · checked 2026-08-07
CJQ05 — Recorded crime incidents by Garda Region, Type of Offence, and Quarter CJQ05 · ws.cso.ie · checked 2026-10-05
CSO Census 2022 F5003 — population by citizenship and town of usual residence CSO Census 2022 F5003 · ws.cso.ie · checked 2026-07-27
CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town CSO Census 2022 F7115 · ws.cso.ie · checked 2026-07-27
EEA Air Quality Annual Statistics — IE 2024 PM2.5 station data EEA Air Quality Annual Statistics · air.discomap.eea.europa.eu · checked 2026-07-29
eir 500 Mbps broadband eir.ie · checked 2026-09-15
eir Mobile Essential home.eir.ie · checked 2026-09-15
migrationfit.com migrationfit.com · checked 2026-06-14

Show 5 more sources

NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center power.larc.nasa.gov · checked 2026-08-03
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
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

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.