Town comparison · Ballina vs Thurles

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Ballina or Thurles?

Both towns measured at town level, not the wider Eircode area, on the same 53 figures: prices, schools, amenities, social life, commute, affluence and safety.

Ballina, Co. North Tipperary · V94 · 2,959 people | Thurles, Co. North Tipperary · E41 · 7,641 people

Thurles is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 4 of the 7 dimensions to Ballina’s 3.

Ballina leads on
affluenceeducation levelsaccess to its nearest city
Thurles leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transportsafetyaffordability
8936

Ballina aheadlevel or not comparableThurles ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BallinaThurles
iBallina sits in V94, Thurles in E41. 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.

Ballina
Thurles

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.

2,959
Population
7,641

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€345k
Median sale pricelower is better
€248k
Thurles leads
€251k – €521k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€180k – €315k
66
Sales (24m)
381
N/A
Price momentum (YoY)
+18.1%
3.0%
New-build share
8.4%

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 · 0 sec
Schools
4 prim · 4 sec
Thurles leads
Ballina · 1 schools (largest first)
S N Baile An Atha Primary
413 pupils · Catholic
Thurles · 8 schools (largest first)
Ursuline Secondary School Secondary
870 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Coláiste Mhuire Co-ed Secondary
568 pupils · 45% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
C.b.s. Thurles Secondary
556 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Presentation Secondary School Secondary
550 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Presentation Primary School Primary
241 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Angela Primary
226 pupils · Catholic
Gaelscoil Durlas Eile Primary
197 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Ailbhe Primary
192 pupils · Catholic
0
Creches
10
Thurles leads
1
GP practices
1
0
Pharmacies
9
Thurles leads
0
Hospitals
1
Thurles leads
0
Bus stops
9
Thurles leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
1
Thurles leads
2
Gyms & leisure
17
Thurles leads
0
Parks & playgrounds
3
Thurles leads
1
Sports pitches
46
Thurles 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
11
Thurles leads
0
Cafés
10
Thurles leads
1
Pubs & bars
23
Thurles leads
1
Takeaways
9
Thurles leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
4
Thurles leads
1,480
Residents per venuelower is better
134
Thurles leads
#125 of 131 small towns
Most vibrant (national)lower is better
#4 of 131 small towns
Thurles 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
5
Thurles leads
1
Convenience shops
10
Thurles leads
1
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
2
Thurles leads
0
Banks
4
Thurles leads
0
Post offices
1
Thurles leads
1
Hairdressers
12
Thurles leads
1
Dentists
5
Thurles leads
0
Vets
1
Thurles leads
1
Filling stations
9
Thurles leads
0
EV charging
3
Thurles leads
0
Library & community centre
3
Thurles leads
592
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
139
Thurles 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.

27m · ~45 rush
Limericklower is better
66m · ~85 rush
Ballina leads
102m · ~125 rush
Corklower is better
82m · ~105 rush
Thurles leads
131m · ~145 rush
Waterfordlower is better
84m · ~100 rush
Thurles leads
95m · ~120 rush
Galwaylower is better
125m · ~150 rush
Ballina leads
130m · ~165 rush
Dublinlower is better
108m · ~145 rush
Thurles leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
6
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-8.9
Ballina leads
Ballina · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
+4BallinaAffluent
+8BallinaAffluent
Thurles · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-12Thurles UrbanDisadvantaged
-7Thurles UrbanBelow average
-1Thurles RuralBelow average
+3Thurles RuralAbove average
55.2%
Third-level educated
28.5%
Ballina leads
54.0%
Professional class
26.7%
Ballina leads
6.5%
Unemploymentlower is better
15.6%
Ballina leads
76.9%
Owner-occupier
59.4%
Ballina leads
17.8%
Private rental
20.6%
5.6%
Social housing (LA)
15.8%

Liveability & safety

AREA · V94 / E41

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (BallinaV94, ThurlesE41); safety & crime are the Limerick Garda division.

62/100
Quality of Life
66/100
Thurles leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (V94 / E41) 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.

BallinaThurlesOverall (avg)
Safety62426656
Affordability89100
Infrastructure8388
Family7279
Education4628
Environment6274
Economic4038
020406080100020406080100
#66
National ranklower is better
#35
Thurles leads
#1
County ranklower is better
#2
Ballina leads
42/100
Safety
56/100
Thurles leads
88.4
Crime / 1,000lower is better
64.9
Thurles 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.

Ballina Affluent+6.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Ballina +4 (least affluent) → Ballina +8 (most affluent). Even its least-affluent neighbourhood is above the national average.
Thurles Disadvantaged-8.9
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Thurles Urban -12 (least affluent) → Thurles 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 (Limerick), 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 44 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Thurles

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.