Living in Portlaoise

In Portlaoise, tenants pay an average rent of €1,268 a month (2025) and unemployment is 12.2% (2022).

Annual PM2.5 was 8 µg/m³ at the end of 2024. Portlaoise is in Ireland; its population was 23,494 in April 2022. For Portlaoise, the unemployment rate was 12.2% in April 2022.

Last checked 2026-10-0715 sources

Population23,494people3 Apr 2022Official source · CSO Census 2022 F5134 — Built Up Areas / Towns by Size

Median gross salary (region)3,665EUR/month31 Dec 2025Official source · NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)

Average rent1,268EUR/month31 Dec 2025Official source · RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types

Unemployment rate12.2%country median 9.4% — 30% aboveOfficial source · CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town

Recorded crime4,566incidents 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 Portlaoise?

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 Portlaoise.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

No city-level rent figure is published for Portlaoise. 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 broadband⁹Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	39.99 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	eir Mobile Essential¹⁰Official · national market
Average monthly rent (whole dwelling)	1,268 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types¹⁴Official

Is Portlaoise 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 worker29%strong on work, weak on safety · range 20–38%

Skilled employee51%strong on work, weak on education · range 42–60%

Student39%strong on cost, weak on education · range 28–50%

Family46%strong on family, weak on education · range 35–57%

Retirement39%strong on air quality, weak on admin · range 28–50%

Work and income

What is the unemployment rate in Portlaoise?

The unemployment rate is 12.2 % (April 2022). Source: CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town⁷

Unemployment across cities in IrelandUnemployment in Portlaoise is 12.2%. Of 90 cities with data, 21 have unemployment of 6 to under 8%.

4–66–88–1010–1212–1414–1616–18

Portlaoise 12.2%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Average gross earnings	4,286 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)¹²Official · county
Median gross salary (regional)	3,665 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)¹²Official · county
Unemployment rate	12.2 %country median 9.4%	3 Apr 2022	CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town⁷Official

What does a salary buy in Portlaoise?

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

Left over each month€1,662of €3,046 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.	€3,046
Rentaverage rent of a whole dwelling · official · RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types · 2025-12-31	− €1,268
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	€1,662

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

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Portlaoise. 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 Portlaoise. Sources checked through 10 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 Quarter³Official · regional context

Mobility and administration

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Nearest airport	KKY	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports¹³Official
Distance to nearest airport	43 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports¹³Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Portlaoise. 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 Portlaoise.

Find courses near Portlaoise

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Portlaoise?

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 data⁸

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 Portlaoise 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

Portlaoise 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 data⁸Official
Monthly extreme high temperature	Jan 13.66 · Feb 13.93 · Mar 16.67 · Apr 20.14 · May 23.37 · Jun 26.39 · Jul 26.28 · Aug 26.18 · Sep 23.75 · Oct 19.43 · Nov 15.76 · Dec 13.47 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹¹Official
Monthly extreme low temperature	Jan -7.88 · Feb -4.39 · Mar -5.02 · Apr -3.24 · May -1.02 · Jun 2.96 · Jul 5.65 · Aug 4.57 · Sep 0.6 · Oct -2.19 · Nov -3.92 · Dec -6.81 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹¹Official
Average temperature by month	Jan 4.49 · Feb 4.44 · Mar 5.54 · Apr 7.92 · May 10.72 · Jun 13.51 · Jul 14.89 · Aug 14.48 · Sep 12.67 · Oct 9.83 · Nov 6.76 · Dec 4.95 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹¹Official

Population and city profile

How many people live in Portlaoise?

The published population was 23,494 people in April 2022. Source: CSO Census 2022 F5134 — Built Up Areas / Towns by Size⁶

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 4,691 is not 25.8% of the population. Each row names its source.

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport80%
Foreign residents20%

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

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Foreign-resident share	25.81 %	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)¹Official
Foreign residents	4,691 people	3 Apr 2022	CSO Census 2022 F5003 — population by citizenship and town of usual residence⁵Official
Female residents	11,427 people	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)⁶Official
Male residents	12,067 people	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)⁶Official
Population	23,494 people	3 Apr 2022	CSO Census 2022 F5134 — Built Up Areas / Towns by Size⁶Official

International community in Portlaoise

Named groups from exact city-grain official distributions. Citizenship, birthplace, language and ancestry answer different questions and stay separate.

Country of birth

Usually resident population by birthplace or citizenship; source-native CSO table · 2022

Published group	People	Share
Total	23,299	100.0%
Ireland	16,664	71.5%
Rest of World	2,282	9.8%
Other EU272020 (Exec Ireland & Poland)	1,837	7.9%
Poland	1,466	6.3%
United Kingdom	805	3.5%
India	245	1.1%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source²

Citizenship

Population Usually Resident and Present in the State · 2022

Published group	People	Share
All citizenships	23,170	100.0%
Ireland	17,154	74.0%
Poland	1,306	5.6%
Citizenship not stated	1,265	5.5%
Lithuania	497	2.1%
Other Asia(1)	398	1.7%
Other EU27 (2020)	376	1.6%
Africa(1)	363	1.6%
Romania	326	1.4%
Latvia	307	1.3%

Show 17 more groups

Published group	People	Share
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)	259	1.1%
India	180	0.8%
Brazil	102	0.4%
Ukraine	99	0.4%
Multiple/Dual citizenship	75	0.3%
Croatia	65	0.3%
Rest of Europe(1)	64	0.3%
No citizenship	60	0.3%
Germany	47	0.2%
Italy	45	0.2%
Spain	42	0.2%
Other countries	31	0.1%
United States of America (the)	31	0.1%
China	28	0.1%
France	24	0.1%
Other America(1)	16	0.1%
Australia	10	0.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source⁵

Citizenship

Usually resident population by birthplace or citizenship; source-native CSO table · 2022

Published group	People	Share
Total	23,299	100.0%
Ireland	17,285	74.2%
Other EU272020 (Exec Ireland & Poland)	1,735	7.4%
Not stated	1,323	5.7%
Poland	1,304	5.6%
Rest of World	1,211	5.2%
United Kingdom	262	1.1%
India	179	0.8%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source²

Alternatives for people set on Portlaoise

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.

Monasterevin as a Portlaoise alternative in the same region

20 km away, better on 2 of 5 metrics measured the same way, worse on 1.

Foreign residents: 12.6% Monasterevin vs 25.8% Portlaoise−51%
Unemployment: 9.1% Monasterevin vs 12.2% Portlaoise−25%
Residents: 5,307 Monasterevin vs 23,494 Portlaoise−77%
Median gross pay, region: €3,969 Monasterevin vs €3,665 Portlaoise+8%
Recorded crime, per 100k: 4,566 Monasterevin vs 4,566 Portlaoisesame level

Full comparison More about Monasterevin

Limerick as a Portlaoise alternative in the same country

Better on 3 of 4 metrics measured the same way, worse on 1.

Nearest airport: 21.0 km Limerick vs 43.0 km Portlaoise−51%
Unemployment: 10.9% Limerick vs 12.2% Portlaoise−11%
Annual PM2.5: 6.7 µg/m³ Limerick vs 8.0 µg/m³ Portlaoise−17%
Foreign residents: 22.0% Limerick vs 25.8% Portlaoise−15%

Full comparison More about Limerick

Cities near Portlaoise

Published cities within 25 km, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.

Alternative cities in Ireland

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

All Ireland cities

Athlone22,869 residents Balbriggan24,322 residents Mullingar22,667 residents Newbridge24,366 residents Letterkenny22,549 residents Greystones-Delgany22,009 residents

How does Portlaoise compare?

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

Open the full comparison

Portlaoise in rankings

#1 of 27 in Most international cities in Ireland #18 of 25 in Cities with cleanest air in Ireland #20 of 27 in Largest cities in Ireland #23 of 25 in Cities with lowest unemployment in Ireland

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Portlaoise 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; Portlaoise'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 Portlaoise?

The published population was 23,494 people in April 2022. Source: CSO Census 2022 F5134 — Built Up Areas / Towns by Size.

Is the air quality good in Portlaoise?

What is the unemployment rate in Portlaoise?

The unemployment rate is 12.2 % (April 2022). Source: CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town.

What is the typical salary around Portlaoise?

The median gross salary is 3,665 EUR/month. Source: NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025).

How many foreign residents live in Portlaoise?

4,691 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: CSO Census 2022 F5003 — population by citizenship and town of usual residence.

Is Portlaoise a good place to live?

Portlaoise 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 Portlaoise?

Portarlington, Monasterevin, Athy are near Portlaoise. Typed relationship labels are shown where published; other rows use straight-line distance from admitted coordinates.

How many people born in Ireland live in Portlaoise?

The official country of birth distribution records 16,664 people (71.5%) in the source-defined population for 2022. This is a country of birth measure, not a general estimate of ethnicity or migration status.

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). Portlaoise, Ireland: population, rent, salary, jobs, safety [ImmigrationDB compilation; version c45bf2d4996fba6ad887d413a41afad0]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/portlaoise/ Retrieved 2026-10-25. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_portlaoise-ireland-population-rent-salary-jobs-safety_c91df8045d3b,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Portlaoise, Ireland: population, rent, salary, jobs, safety},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-25},
  version = {c45bf2d4996fba6ad887d413a41afad0},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/portlaoise/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-25. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Portlaoise, Ireland: population, rent, salary, jobs, safety](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/portlaoise/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version c45bf2d4996fba6ad887d413a41afad0; 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

Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO) cso.ie · checked 2026-08-03
Central Statistics Office Ireland country of birth distribution ws.cso.ie · checked 2026-08-28
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 F5003 — population by citizenship and town of usual residence CSO Census 2022 F5003 · ws.cso.ie · checked 2026-07-27
CSO Census 2022 F5134 — Built Up Areas / Towns by Size CSO Census 2022 F5134 · ws.cso.ie · checked 2026-07-14
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

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
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.