Town comparison · Balla vs Westport

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Balla or Westport?

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.

Balla, Co. Mayo · F23 · 860 people | Westport, Co. Mayo · F28 · 5,934 people

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

Balla leads on
affordabilityaccess to its nearest city
Westport leads on
education levelsschools & amenitiespublic transport
91330

Balla aheadlevel or not comparableWestport ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BallaWestport
iBalla sits in F23, Westport in F28. 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.

Balla
Westport

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.

860
Population
5,934

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€255k
Median sale pricelower is better
€316k
Balla leads
€190k – €300k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€247k – €430k
32
Sales (24m)
332
N/A
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
9.4%
New-build share
11.1%

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.

1 prim · 1 sec
Schools
5 prim · 2 sec
Westport leads
Balla · 2 schools (largest first)
Balla Secondary School Secondary
475 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Scoil Naisiunta Balla Aluinn Primary
200 pupils · Catholic
Westport · 7 schools (largest first)
Sacred Heart School Secondary
605 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Rice College Secondary
557 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Scoil Phadraig Primary
331 pupils · Catholic
Gaelscoil Na Cuaiche Primary
197 pupils · Catholic
S N Naomh Colm Cille Primary
191 pupils · Catholic
Westport Educate Together National School Primary
48 pupils · Multi Denominational
Holy Trinity National School Primary
46 pupils · Church Of Ireland
1
Creches
9
Westport leads
N/A
GP practices
1
0
Pharmacies
6
Westport leads
0
Hospitals
0
3
Bus stops
6
Westport leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
1
Westport leads
0
Gyms & leisure
10
Westport leads
1
Parks & playgrounds
10
Westport leads
4
Sports pitches
29
Westport 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.

0
Restaurants
22
Westport leads
0
Cafés
10
Westport leads
0
Pubs & bars
30
Westport leads
1
Takeaways
4
Westport leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
2
Westport leads
860
Residents per venuelower is better
87
Westport leads

Day-to-day

TOWN · counts

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

0
Supermarkets
3
Westport leads
2
Convenience shops
9
Westport leads
0
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
4
Westport leads
0
Banks
4
Westport leads
1
Post offices
1
0
Hairdressers
9
Westport leads
0
Dentists
3
Westport leads
0
Vets
2
Westport leads
1
Filling stations
4
Westport leads
0
EV charging
6
Westport leads
1
Library & community centre
4
Westport leads
172
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
121
Westport leads

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.

69m · ~95 rush
Galwaylower is better
80m · ~105 rush
Balla leads
116m · ~135 rush
Limericklower is better
140m · ~160 rush
Balla leads
182m · ~215 rush
Dublinlower is better
201m · ~235 rush
Balla leads
195m · ~215 rush
Corklower is better
220m · ~240 rush
Balla leads
227m · ~240 rush
Waterfordlower is better
252m · ~265 rush
Balla leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-1.3
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-0.5
Westport leads
Balla · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-3BallaBelow average
+1BallaAbove average
Westport · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-1Westport UrbanBelow average
+0Westport UrbanAbove average
+1Westport RuralAbove average
+3Westport RuralAbove average
34.5%
Third-level educated
42.3%
Westport leads
38.8%
Professional class
36.8%
Balla leads
8.1%
Unemploymentlower is better
9.0%
Balla leads
81.0%
Owner-occupier
56.0%
Balla leads
13.7%
Private rental
33.1%
3.6%
Social housing (LA)
9.0%

Liveability & safety

AREA · F23 / F28

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (BallaF23, WestportF28); safety & crime are the Mayo Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

65/100
Quality of Life
75/100
Westport leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (F23 / F28) 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.

BallaWestportOverall (avg)
Safety65827582
Affordability9992
Infrastructure2588
Family7984
Education4646
Environment7682
Economic4650
020406080100020406080100
#50
National ranklower is better
#1
Westport leads
#4
County ranklower is better
#1
Westport leads
82/100
Safety
82/100
26.9
Crime / 1,000
26.9

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.

Balla Below average-1.3
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Balla -3 (least affluent) → Balla +1 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Westport Below average-0.5
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Westport Urban -1 (least affluent) → Westport Rural +3 (most affluent). It straddles 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 (Mayo), 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 30 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Westport

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.