Town comparison · Balbriggan vs Rivermeade

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Balbriggan or Rivermeade?

Both towns measured at town level, not the wider Eircode area, on the same 52 figures: prices, schools, amenities, social life, commute, affluence and safety.

Balbriggan, Co. Fingal · K32 · 22,570 people | Rivermeade, Co. Fingal · K67 · 521 people

Balbriggan is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions to Rivermeade’s 2, with 2 level.

Balbriggan leads on
education levelsschools & amenitiespublic transport
Rivermeade leads on
affordabilityaccess to its nearest city
271312

Balbriggan aheadlevel or not comparableRivermeade ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BalbrigganRivermeade
iBalbriggan sits in K32, Rivermeade in K67. Each figure below is tagged with the geographic level it’s actually measured at. The town ahead on a row is the one in green. Scores and percentages are charted against a true 0 to 100 scale; every other row is charted against the larger of the two towns, so the bars compare but don’t imply a ceiling.

Outlines are each town’s CSO Small Areas — the exact footprint every figure is measured over.

Balbriggan
Rivermeade

Size

TOWN · census

Resident population at the 2022 CSO census, summed over the Small Areas that make up each town. Not scored: a bigger town isn’t a better one, it just explains why the counts below differ.

22,570
Population
521

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€335k
Median sale pricelower is better
€325k
Rivermeade leads
€273k – €385k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€315k – €335k
566
Sales (24m)
2
+12.3%
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
23.1%
New-build share
N/A

Schools, health & amenities

TOWN · counts

Facilities in and around each town — each counted once, for the town it’s closest to. Bigger towns naturally score higher — read alongside population.

9 prim · 5 sec
Schools
1 prim · 0 sec
Balbriggan leads
Balbriggan · 14 schools (largest first)
Loreto Secondary School Secondary
1,232 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Ardgillan Community College Secondary
1,001 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Bremore Educate Together Secondary School Secondary
836 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Balbriggan Community College Secondary
696 pupils · 45% to 3rd-level · INTER DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Coláiste Ghlór Na Mara Secondary
500 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
St Molaga Senior Ns Primary
434 pupils · Catholic
Bracken Educate Together Ns Primary
383 pupils · Multi DenominationalDEIS
S N Naomh Teresa Primary
377 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Scoil Chormaic Primary
376 pupils · Multi Denominational
S N Peadar Agus Pol N Primary
358 pupils · Catholic
Balbriggan Educate Together Ns Primary
357 pupils · Multi DenominationalDEIS
Gaelscoil Bhaile Brigin Primary
337 pupils · Inter Denominational
St Georges N S Primary
334 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Balscadden N S Primary
202 pupils · Catholic
Rivermeade · 1 schools (largest first)
Mary Queen Of Ireland N S Primary
105 pupils · CatholicDEIS
22
Creches
1
Balbriggan leads
N/A
GP practices
N/A
3
Pharmacies
0
Balbriggan leads
0
Hospitals
0
41
Bus stops
9
Balbriggan leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
0
Balbriggan leads
13
Gyms & leisure
1
Balbriggan leads
16
Parks & playgrounds
1
Balbriggan leads
39
Sports pitches
13
Balbriggan leads

Social life

TOWN · counts

Places to eat, drink and go out in and around each town — each counted once, for the town it’s closest to. The residents per venue row is the fairer read — raw counts just track town size, so a big town wins by being big.

4
Restaurants
0
Balbriggan leads
7
Cafés
0
Balbriggan leads
5
Pubs & bars
0
Balbriggan leads
13
Takeaways
0
Balbriggan leads
0
Nightclubs
0
2
Cinema & theatre
0
Balbriggan leads
728
Residents per venue
N/A

Day-to-day

TOWN · counts

The errands you run without thinking about them. Same caveat — read the residents-per-service row alongside the counts.

6
Supermarkets
0
Balbriggan leads
6
Convenience shops
0
Balbriggan leads
1
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
0
Balbriggan leads
3
Banks
0
Balbriggan leads
1
Post offices
0
Balbriggan leads
4
Hairdressers
0
Balbriggan leads
1
Dentists
0
Balbriggan leads
2
Vets
0
Balbriggan leads
4
Filling stations
0
Balbriggan leads
2
EV charging
0
Balbriggan leads
2
Library & community centre
0
Balbriggan leads
705
Residents per shop or service
N/A

Commute by car

TOWN · from centre

Drive time from the town centre to each city centre — typical off-peak, with an estimated weekday rush hour. OSRM road routing.

31m · ~60 rush
Dublinlower is better
23m · ~45 rush
Rivermeade leads
136m · ~150 rush
Waterfordlower is better
124m · ~140 rush
Rivermeade leads
158m · ~175 rush
Limericklower is better
145m · ~165 rush
Rivermeade leads
163m · ~185 rush
Galwaylower is better
150m · ~175 rush
Rivermeade leads
197m · ~220 rush
Corklower is better
184m · ~205 rush
Rivermeade leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-4.8
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-5.1
Balbriggan leads
Balbriggan · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-8Balbriggan UrbanBelow average
-6Balbriggan UrbanBelow average
-5Balbriggan RuralBelow average
-2Balbriggan RuralBelow average
Rivermeade · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-6KilsallaghanBelow average
-4KilsallaghanBelow average
34.4%
Third-level educated
31.3%
Balbriggan leads
30.9%
Professional class
36.1%
Rivermeade leads
13.3%
Unemploymentlower is better
9.5%
Rivermeade leads
62.6%
Owner-occupier
79.2%
Rivermeade leads
23.0%
Private rental
6.2%
12.1%
Social housing (LA)
10.6%

Liveability & safety

AREA · K32 / K67

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (BalbrigganK32, RivermeadeK67); safety & crime are the DMR North Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

64/100
Quality of Life
66/100
Rivermeade leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (K32 / K67) from official data — Garda crime, CSO income & census, OPW flood, EPA water, and transport/healthcare/broadband coverage. Refreshed quarterly. The dashed line is each town’s overall score (that average) — dimensions to its right beat the average, to its left fall short. Two towns can share a score with a very different mix.

BalbrigganRivermeadeOverall (avg)
Safety64596659
Affordability8666
Infrastructure5075
Family6867
Education5056
Environment9574
Economic3862
020406080100020406080100
#58
National ranklower is better
#35
Rivermeade leads
#15
County ranklower is better
#10
Rivermeade leads
59/100
Safety
59/100
61.5
Crime / 1,000lower is better
61.8
Balbriggan leads

Affluence range

Pobal HP deprivation index, published per Electoral Division, so the spread shows the town’s poorest to richest ED. A town that is a single ED shows one mark, no range.

Balbriggan Below average-4.8
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Balbriggan Urban -8 (least affluent) → Balbriggan Rural -2 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.
Rivermeade Below average-5.1
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Kilsallaghan -6 (least affluent) → Kilsallaghan -4 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.

How accurate is this, and at what level?

TOWN
Prices, amenities and commute are exact and town-specific.

Prices come from individual PPR sales inside the town’s Small-Area boundary; schools, GPs, transport, gyms and parks are counted the same way; commute is routed from the town centre.

ED
Affluence, profile and tenure are Electoral-Division level.

Published per Electoral Division and averaged across the town’s EDs, with a range where the town spans several.

AREA
Liveability and safety are wider-area, not the town.

Quality of life and rank are per Eircode routing key; safety and crime are the Garda division (DMR North), coarser than a town, so two towns in the same county read the same.

Population growth isn’t shown: the 2016 and 2022 censuses don’t use the same Small Areas, and the areas that were re-cut are the ones that grew, so a like-for-like comparison understates growth badly. Rent and yield are still too sparse to show per town. Built from 71 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Balbriggan

The stronger town on the data.

Compare somewhere else

Put any two Irish towns head to head, or step up to the wider Eircode areas.