Living in Sligo

In Sligo, tenants pay an average rent of €1,131 a month (2025) and unemployment is 11.4% (2022).

Annual PM2.5 was 8 µg/m³ at the end of 2024.

Last checked 2026-10-0715 sources

Population20,608people3 Apr 2022Official source · Census 2022 BUA population

Median gross salary (region)3,374EUR/month31 Dec 2025Official source · NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)

Average rent1,131EUR/month31 Dec 2025Official source · RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types

Unemployment rate11.4%country median 9.4% — 22% 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 Sligo?

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 Sligo.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

No city-level rent figure is published for Sligo. 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)	1,131 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types¹⁵Official

Is Sligo 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 worker47%strong on work, weak on air quality · range 38–56%

Skilled employee52%strong on work, weak on education · range 43–61%

Student41%strong on cost, weak on education · range 30–52%

Family48%strong on family, weak on education · range 37–59%

Retirement37%strong on legal route, weak on admin · range 26–48%

Work and income

What is the unemployment rate in Sligo?

The unemployment rate is 11.4 % (April 2022). Source: CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town⁶

Unemployment across cities in IrelandUnemployment in Sligo is 11.4%. Of 90 cities with data, 21 have unemployment of 6 to under 8%.

4–66–88–1010–1212–1414–1616–18

Sligo 11.4%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Average gross earnings	3,958 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)¹³Official · county
Median gross salary (regional)	3,374 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)¹³Official · county
Unemployment rate	11.4 %country median 9.4%	3 Apr 2022	CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town⁶Official

What does a salary buy in Sligo?

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

Left over each month€1,580of €2,828 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.	€2,828
Rentaverage rent of a whole dwelling · official · RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types · 2025-12-31	− €1,131
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	€1,580

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

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Sligo. 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 Sligo. 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 / Local Link (NTA Sligo)	27 Aug 2026	migrationfit.com¹¹Official
Nearest airport	SXL	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports¹⁴Official
Distance to nearest airport	9 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports¹⁴Official

Language courses and integration

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

Find courses near Sligo

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Sligo?

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

NO₂22WHO 10 · EU 40

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 Sligo 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

Sligo 8.0

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
NO₂ — annual mean	22 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	European Environment Agency¹⁰Official
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 12.68 · Feb 12.58 · Mar 14.96 · Apr 15.78 · May 20.92 · Jun 25.21 · Jul 23.62 · Aug 23.11 · Sep 19.96 · Oct 17.65 · Nov 14.73 · Dec 13.23 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹²Official
Monthly extreme low temperature	Jan 0.2 · Feb -0.34 · Mar -0.73 · Apr 1.28 · May 4.9 · Jun 7.52 · Jul 10.15 · Aug 10.39 · Sep 8.45 · Oct 5.12 · Nov 1.71 · Dec 0.67 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹²Official
Average temperature by month	Jan 6.83 · Feb 6.46 · Mar 7.06 · Apr 8.71 · May 10.98 · Jun 13.34 · Jul 14.73 · Aug 14.94 · Sep 13.81 · Oct 11.57 · Nov 9.21 · Dec 7.54 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹²Official

Population and city profile

How many people live in Sligo?

The published population was 20,608 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 2,720 is not 19% of the population. Each row names its source.

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport86.8%
Foreign residents13.2%

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

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Foreign-resident share	18.98 %	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)²Official
Foreign residents	2,720 people	3 Apr 2022	CSO Census 2022 F5003 — population by citizenship and town of usual residence⁵Official
City area	12 km²	31 Dec 2022	migrationfit.com¹¹Official
Population density	1,679 people/km²	31 Dec 2022	migrationfit.com¹¹Official
Female residents	10,639 people	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)³Official
Male residents	9,969 people	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)³Official
Population	20,608 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.com¹¹Official

Alternatives for people set on Sligo

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.

Waterford as a Sligo alternative in the same country

Better on 2 of 5 metrics measured the same way, worse on 0.

Residents: 60,079 Waterford vs 20,608 Sligo+192%
Foreign residents: 20.6% Waterford vs 19.0% Sligo+9%
Nearest airport: 8.0 km Waterford vs 9.0 km Sligo−11%
Unemployment: 11.7% Waterford vs 11.4% Sligosame level
Annual PM2.5: 8.0 µg/m³ Waterford vs 8.0 µg/m³ Sligosame level

Full comparison More about Waterford

Alternative cities in Ireland

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

All Ireland cities

Celbridge20,601 residents Wexford21,524 residents Greystones-Delgany22,009 residents Letterkenny22,549 residents Mullingar22,667 residents Malahide18,608 residents

How does Sligo compare?

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

Open the full comparison

Sligo in rankings

#14 of 27 in Most international cities in Ireland #19 of 25 in Cities with cleanest air in Ireland #19 of 25 in Cities with lowest unemployment in Ireland #26 of 27 in Largest cities in Ireland

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

The published population was 20,608 people in 2022. Source: Census 2022 BUA population.

Is the air quality good in Sligo?

What is the unemployment rate in Sligo?

The unemployment rate is 11.4 % (April 2022). Source: CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town.

What is the typical salary around Sligo?

The median gross salary is 3,374 EUR/month. Source: NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025).

How many foreign residents live in Sligo?

2,720 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: CSO Census 2022 F5003 — population by citizenship and town of usual residence.

Is Sligo a good place to live?

Sligo 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). Sligo, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 3029c045f3d82f1ba30e515aacb501f7]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/sligo/ Retrieved 2026-10-25. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_sligo-ireland-population-rent-salary-cost-of-living_9a1a8f1f125e,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Sligo, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-25},
  version = {3029c045f3d82f1ba30e515aacb501f7},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/sligo/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-25. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Sligo, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/sligo/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 3029c045f3d82f1ba30e515aacb501f7; 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
European Environment Agency air.discomap.eea.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-03

Show 5 more sources

migrationfit.com migrationfit.com · checked 2026-06-14
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

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.