Living in Wicklow

In Wicklow, tenants pay an average rent of €1,633 a month (2025) and unemployment is 9.3% (2022).

Wicklow is a city in Ireland, with a population of 12,957 in April 2022. At the end of 2024, annual PM2.5 was 6 µg/m³.

Last checked 2026-10-0716 sources

Population12,957people3 Apr 2022Official source · CSO Census 2022 F5134 — Built Up Areas / Towns by Size

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

Average rent1,633EUR/month31 Dec 2025Official source · RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types

Unemployment rate9.3%country median 9.4% — about the sameOfficial 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 mean6µg/m³country median 7.0 — 14% belowOfficial source · EEA Air Quality Annual Statistics — IE 2024 PM2.5 follow-up exact station subset

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

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 Wicklow.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

No city-level rent figure is published for Wicklow. 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)	1,633 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	RTB/ESRI Average Monthly Rent Report (CSO table RIA02), all bedrooms, all property types¹⁶Official

Is Wicklow 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 employee33%strong on work, weak on education · range 24–42%

Student34%strong on cost, weak on education · range 23–45%

Family45%strong on family, weak on education · range 34–56%

Retirement40%strong on air quality, weak on admin · range 29–51%

Work and income

What is the unemployment rate in Wicklow?

The unemployment rate is 9.3 % (April 2022). Source: CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town⁷

Unemployment across cities in IrelandUnemployment in Wicklow is 9.3%. Of 90 cities with data, 21 have unemployment of 6 to under 8%.

4–66–88–1010–1212–1414–1616–18

Wicklow 9.3%

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)¹³Official · county
Median gross salary (regional)	3,969 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	NEA05: Mean & Median Annual Earnings by Sex & NUTS 3 Region (2011–2025)¹³Official · county
Unemployment rate	9.3 %country median 9.4% — about the same	3 Apr 2022	CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town⁷Official

What does a salary buy in Wicklow?

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

Left over each month€1,456of €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	− €1,633
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	€1,456

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

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Wicklow. 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 Wicklow. 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
Destinations from nearest airport	144 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights¹⁴Official
Nearest airport	DUB	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports¹⁵Official
Distance to nearest airport	52 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports¹⁵Official

Language courses and integration

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

Find courses near Wicklow

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Wicklow?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 6 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 follow-up exact station subset⁸

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

PM2.56WHO 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 Wicklow is 6.0 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

Wicklow 6.0

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	6 µg/m³country median 7.0	31 Dec 2024	EEA Air Quality Annual Statistics — IE 2024 PM2.5 follow-up exact station subset⁸Official
Monthly extreme high temperature	Jan 13.54 · Feb 12.66 · Mar 14.57 · Apr 17.82 · May 20.92 · Jun 22.41 · Jul 24.03 · Aug 24.29 · Sep 21.78 · Oct 17.97 · Nov 15.28 · Dec 13.29 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹²Official
Monthly extreme low temperature	Jan -2.37 · Feb -3.31 · Mar -3.8 · Apr -0.75 · May 2.66 · Jun 5.16 · Jul 7.69 · Aug 8.33 · Sep 5.81 · Oct 1.92 · Nov -0.45 · Dec -2.19 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹²Official
Average temperature by month	Jan 5.61 · Feb 5.34 · Mar 6.09 · Apr 8.06 · May 10.62 · Jun 13.25 · Jul 14.81 · Aug 14.75 · Sep 13.3 · Oct 10.98 · Nov 8.14 · Dec 6.31 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹²Official

Population and city profile

How many people live in Wicklow?

The published population was 12,957 people in April 2022. Source: CSO Census 2022 F5134 — Built Up Areas / Towns by Size⁶

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport89.9%

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

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Foreign-resident share	11.88 %	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)¹Official
Foreign residents	1,307 people	3 Apr 2022	CSO Census 2022 F5003 — population by citizenship and town of usual residence⁵Official
Female residents	6,522 people	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)⁶Official
Male residents	6,435 people	31 Dec 2022	Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO)⁶Official
Population	12,957 people	3 Apr 2022	CSO Census 2022 F5134 — Built Up Areas / Towns by Size⁶Official

International community in Wicklow

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	12,862	100.0%
Ireland	10,529	81.9%
United Kingdom	782	6.1%
Rest of World	710	5.5%
Other EU272020 (Exec Ireland & Poland)	507	3.9%
Poland	202	1.6%
India	132	1.0%

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	12,940	100.0%
Ireland	11,399	88.1%
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)	247	1.9%
Citizenship not stated	213	1.6%
Poland	169	1.3%
Lithuania	120	0.9%
Other EU27 (2020)	96	0.7%
Other Asia(1)	89	0.7%
India	87	0.7%
Africa(1)	85	0.7%

Show 17 more groups

Published group	People	Share
Romania	71	0.5%
Italy	41	0.3%
China	37	0.3%
Latvia	36	0.3%
United States of America (the)	33	0.3%
France	28	0.2%
Spain	26	0.2%
Rest of Europe(1)	24	0.2%
Brazil	21	0.2%
No citizenship	21	0.2%
Other countries	20	0.2%
Multiple/Dual citizenship	20	0.2%
Germany	18	0.1%
Other America(1)	16	0.1%
Australia	10	0.1%
Croatia	7	0.1%
Ukraine	6	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	12,862	100.0%
Ireland	11,334	88.1%
Other EU272020 (Exec Ireland & Poland)	444	3.5%
Rest of World	357	2.8%
United Kingdom	245	1.9%
Not stated	227	1.8%
Poland	169	1.3%
India	86	0.7%

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

Alternatives for people set on Wicklow

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.

Greystones-Delgany as a Wicklow alternative in the same region

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

Unemployment: 5.5% Greystones-Delgany vs 9.3% Wicklow−41%
Residents: 22,009 Greystones-Delgany vs 12,957 Wicklow+70%
Foreign residents: 11.3% Greystones-Delgany vs 11.9% Wicklow−5%
Median gross pay, region: €3,969 Greystones-Delgany vs €3,969 Wicklowsame level
Recorded crime, per 100k: 4,566 Greystones-Delgany vs 4,566 Wicklowsame level

Full comparison More about Greystones-Delgany

Galway city and suburbs as a Wicklow alternative in the same country

A move, not a commute, at 203 km, better on 2 of 3 metrics measured the same way, worse on 0. Median gross pay, region cannot be compared like for like.

Residents: 85,910 Galway city and suburbs vs 12,957 Wicklow+563%
Foreign residents: 18.2% Galway city and suburbs vs 11.9% Wicklow+53%
Median gross pay, region: €3,566 (2024) Galway city and suburbs vs €3,969 (2025) Wicklowno percentage
Recorded crime, per 100k: 4,247 Galway city and suburbs vs 4,566 Wicklow−7%

Full comparison More about Galway city and suburbs

Cities near Wicklow

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

Alternative cities in Ireland

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

All Ireland cities

Castlebar13,054 residents Arklow13,399 residents Mallow13,456 residents Enniscorthy12,310 residents Midleton13,906 residents Cobh14,148 residents

How does Wicklow compare?

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

Open the full comparison

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Wicklow 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; Wicklow's school authority applies it locally.

Sources: eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu · 2026.

Is Wicklow part of Dublin?

Wicklow is in the published commuting zone of Dublin; this does not mean it is administratively part of the hub. Dublin city profile

Relationship type: Commuting Zone Of. Source¹¹

Common questions

Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.

How many people live in Wicklow?

The published population was 12,957 people in April 2022. Source: CSO Census 2022 F5134 — Built Up Areas / Towns by Size.

Is the air quality good in Wicklow?

What is the unemployment rate in Wicklow?

The unemployment rate is 9.3 % (April 2022). Source: CSO Census 2022 F7115 — unemployment rate by town.

What is the typical salary around Wicklow?

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 Wicklow?

1,307 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: CSO Census 2022 F5003 — population by citizenship and town of usual residence.

Is Wicklow a good place to live?

Wicklow 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.

Is Wicklow part of Dublin?

Wicklow is in the published commuting zone of Dublin; this does not mean it is administratively part of the hub.

Which cities are near Wicklow?

Greystones-Delgany, Arklow are near Wicklow. Typed relationship labels are shown where published; other rows use straight-line distance from admitted coordinates.

How many people born in Ireland live in Wicklow?

The official country of birth distribution records 10,529 people (81.9%) 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 16). Wicklow, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 67226d2ab555238ee4a516bc10ff1a0f]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/wicklow/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_wicklow-ireland-population-rent-salary-cost-of-living_55fd1a4ec16f,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Wicklow, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {67226d2ab555238ee4a516bc10ff1a0f},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/wicklow/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Wicklow, Ireland: population, rent, salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ie/wicklow/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 67226d2ab555238ee4a516bc10ff1a0f; retrieved 2026-10-16; built 2026-10-16.

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 follow-up exact station subset 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 6 more sources

GISCO Urban Audit 2021 — Functional Urban Areas (URAU_RG_100K_2021_4326_FUA) GISCO Urban Audit 2021 · gisco-services.ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-09-19
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.