BallonCo. Carlow vs CarlowCo. CarlowTown level

The same comparison as the area page, but measured for the town itself, not the whole Eircode routing key.

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iBoth towns sit in the same Eircode area R93 — on the routing-key area page they would read as one number. At town level they diverge. Each figure below is tagged with the geographic level it's actually measured at.
Ballon
Carlow

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

TOWNS
Ballon
Co. CARLOW · in R93 · pop 1,576 · 3 small areas
Carlow
Co. CARLOW · in R93 · pop · 90 small areas
Prices & market● TOWN · exact
Median sale price
€295k
€285k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€239k – €301k
€207k – €308k
Sales (24m)
4
113
Price momentum (YoY)
-4.9%
+14.5%
New-build share
25.0%
13.1%
Schools, health & amenities● TOWN · counts
Count of each facility whose location falls inside the town boundary. Bigger towns naturally score higher — read alongside population.
Schools
1 prim · 0 sec
8 prim · 4 sec
Ballon · 1 schools (largest first)
S N Peadar Agus Pol Primary
250 pupils · Catholic
Carlow · 12 schools (largest first)
St. Leo's College Secondary
885 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Presentation College Secondary
804 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
St Mary's Academy Cbs Secondary
406 pupils · 40% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICDEIS
Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach Secondary
359 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
S N Naomh Fhiach Primary
601 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Gaelscoil Eoghain Uí Thuairisc Primary
457 pupils · Catholic
S N Muire Gan Smal Primary
377 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Holy Family Girls N S Primary
317 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Holy Family B N S Primary
308 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Bishop Foley Memorial School Boys Snr Sch Primary
195 pupils · CatholicDEIS
S N Ceatharlach Primary
130 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Scoil Nais Iosef Naofa Primary
112 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Creches
1
22
GP practices
0
3
Pharmacies
0
8
Hospitals
0
2
Bus stops
2
64
Rail / Luas stops
0
1
Gyms & leisure
0
15
Parks & playgrounds
0
9
Sports pitches
0
52
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.
Waterford
65m · ~80 rush
58m · ~70 rush
Dublin
80m · ~115 rush
69m · ~105 rush
Limerick
130m · ~150 rush
113m · ~130 rush
Cork
151m · ~175 rush
145m · ~165 rush
Galway
173m · ~195 rush
156m · ~180 rush
Affluence & profile● ELECTORAL DIVISION
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-1
-5.1
Ballon · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-2BallonBelow average
+2RathrushAbove average
Carlow · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-10Graigue UrbanDisadvantaged
-9Carlow UrbanDisadvantaged
-4Carlow RuralBelow average
-2Graigue RuralBelow average
Third-level educated
38.8%
36.0%
Professional class
36.1%
29.3%
Unemployment
7.3%
12.5%
Owner-occupier
76.8%
53.9%
Private rental
13.4%
26.9%
Social housing (LA)
5.5%
12.8%
Liveability & safety● AREA · R93 / R93
Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (BallonR93, CarlowR93); safety & crime are the Kilkenny/Carlow Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.
Quality of Life
62/100
62/100
National rank
#66
#66
County rank
#1
#1
Safety
62/100
62/100
Crime / 1,000
57.6
57.6

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.

Ballon Below average-1.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Ballon -2 (least affluent) → Rathrush +2 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Carlow Below average-5.1
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Graigue Urban -10 (least affluent) → Graigue Rural -2 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.

How accurate is this, and at what level?

● TOWN
Prices, amenities & commute — exact, 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. The figures the routing-key area page can't give you.

● ED
Affluence, profile & tenure — Electoral-Division level.

Pobal HP, third-level, class, unemployment, tenure are published per Electoral Division and averaged across the town's EDs — a range where the town spans several EDs (see the bar above).

● AREA
Liveability & safety — wider-area, not the town.

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

Population & growth are loaded for ~7 counties so far (not Leinster yet); rent & yield are too sparse per town. Tap Schools or Affluence to drill in. Built from 93 CSO Small Areas.
AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BallonCarlow
The verdict

Carlow is the stronger town on the data — it leads on 4 of the 7 dimensions to Ballon’s 2, with 1 level: schools & amenities, public transport, affordability and access to its nearest city. Ballon leads on affluence and education levels.

Higher is better on every spoke — affluence, education, amenity density, transport, safety, affordability and nearest-city access, scored head-to-head.

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