Town comparison · Ballsbridge vs Dun Laoghaire

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Ballsbridge or Dun Laoghaire?

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.

Ballsbridge, Co. Dublin · D04 · 33,242 people | Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin City · A96 · 3,061 people

Ballsbridge is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 4 of the 7 dimensions to Dun Laoghaire’s 1, with 2 level.

Ballsbridge leads on
affluenceeducation levelsschools & amenitiespublic transport
Dun Laoghaire leads on
safety
161224

Ballsbridge aheadlevel or not comparableDun Laoghaire ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BallsbridgeDun Laoghaire
iBallsbridge sits in D04, Dun Laoghaire in A96. 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.
!Ballsbridge & Dun Laoghaire are city suburbs — its boundary follows the postal area (the Small Areas whose addresses carry the name), not an official settlement line, so it can run broader than the local core and the figures cover that wider postal patch.

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

Ballsbridge
Dun Laoghaire

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.

33,242
Population
3,061

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€800k
Median sale pricelower is better
€642k
Dun Laoghaire leads
€561k – €1310k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€485k – €859k
907
Sales (24m)
486
+26.9%
Price momentum (YoY)
-12.5%
4.3%
New-build share
2.5%

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.

4 prim · 2 sec
Schools
3 prim · 1 sec
Ballsbridge leads
Ballsbridge · 6 schools (largest first)
St Michaels College Secondary
726 pupils · 90% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICFee-paying
The Teresian School Secondary
239 pupils · 80% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICFee-paying
St Christopher's Ns Primary
567 pupils · CatholicDEIS
John Scottus Ns Primary
166 pupils · Multi Denominational
Scoil Caitriona Na Mbraithre Primary
148 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Gaelscoil Eoin Primary
50 pupils · Multi Denominational
Dun Laoghaire · 4 schools (largest first)
Rathdown School Secondary
349 pupils · 85% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELANDFee-paying
Monkstown Eucate Together Ns Primary
427 pupils · Multi Denominational
St Josephs Primary
392 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Clochar San Dominic Primary
194 pupils · CatholicDEIS
14
Creches
13
Ballsbridge leads
1
GP practices
4
Dun Laoghaire leads
3
Pharmacies
8
Dun Laoghaire leads
5
Hospitals
2
Ballsbridge leads
58
Bus stops
36
Ballsbridge leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
1
Dun Laoghaire leads
11
Gyms & leisure
11
7
Parks & playgrounds
17
Dun Laoghaire leads
56
Sports pitches
22
Ballsbridge 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.

24
Restaurants
18
Ballsbridge leads
21
Cafés
30
Dun Laoghaire leads
14
Pubs & bars
7
Ballsbridge leads
12
Takeaways
14
Dun Laoghaire leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
2
Dun Laoghaire leads
468
Residents per venuelower is better
43
Dun Laoghaire leads

Ballsbridge is a large town and Dun Laoghaire is a small town, so their national rankings aren’t like-for-like — each is ranked only against places of its own size. Compare them on the residents-per-venue row instead.

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
6
5
Convenience shops
12
Dun Laoghaire leads
0
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
5
Dun Laoghaire leads
2
Banks
5
Dun Laoghaire leads
2
Post offices
3
Dun Laoghaire leads
4
Hairdressers
14
Dun Laoghaire leads
5
Dentists
5
0
Vets
2
Dun Laoghaire leads
2
Filling stations
2
5
EV charging
8
Dun Laoghaire leads
0
Library & community centre
7
Dun Laoghaire leads
1,072
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
44
Dun Laoghaire 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.

8m · ~15 rush
Dublinlower is better
21m · ~40 rush
Ballsbridge leads
120m · ~135 rush
Waterfordlower is better
125m · ~140 rush
Ballsbridge leads
142m · ~160 rush
Limericklower is better
147m · ~165 rush
Ballsbridge leads
151m · ~175 rush
Galwaylower is better
158m · ~180 rush
Ballsbridge leads
181m · ~205 rush
Corklower is better
186m · ~210 rush
Ballsbridge leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
11
Affluence (Pobal HP)
7.3
Ballsbridge leads
Ballsbridge · 24 EDs, poorest → richest
-2Pembroke East ABelow average
-2Pembroke East ABelow average
+5Pembroke East DAffluent
+6Pembroke East DAffluent
+9South DockAffluent
+10Rathmines East AAffluent
+10Pembroke West AAffluent
+10Pembroke East BAffluent
+10Pembroke East EAffluent
+11South DockAffluent
+11Pembroke East BAffluent
+11Pembroke East CAffluent
+11Pembroke West CAffluent
+12Pembroke West AAffluent
+12Rathmines East DAffluent
+12Rathmines East BAffluent
+12Pembroke East CVery affluent
+12Pembroke West BVery affluent
+12Rathmines East AVery affluent
+13Pembroke West BVery affluent
+13Pembroke East EVery affluent
+13Rathmines East DVery affluent
+14Rathmines East BVery affluent
+15Pembroke West CVery affluent
Dun Laoghaire · 15 EDs, poorest → richest
+3Cabinteely-granitefieldAbove average
+4Dun Laoghaire-west CentralAbove average
+4Dun Laoghaire-west CentralAffluent
+5Dun Laoghaire-glasthuleAffluent
+5Cabinteely-granitefieldAffluent
+5Dun Laoghaire-glasthuleAffluent
+7Dun Laoghaire-glenagearyAffluent
+7Dun Laoghaire-sallynoggin WestAffluent
+8Dun Laoghaire-east CentralAffluent
+9Blackrock-carysfortAffluent
+10Blackrock-carysfortAffluent
+10Dun Laoghaire-east CentralAffluent
+10Mansion House BAffluent
+13Dun Laoghaire-glenagearyVery affluent
+17Mansion House BVery affluent
76.9%
Third-level educated
65.3%
Ballsbridge leads
60.7%
Professional class
56.6%
Ballsbridge leads
5.6%
Unemploymentlower is better
7.1%
Ballsbridge leads
43.8%
Owner-occupier
51.9%
Dun Laoghaire leads
49.5%
Private rental
37.0%
3.2%
Social housing (LA)
6.4%

Liveability & safety

AREA · D04 / A96

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Ballsbridge → D04, Dun Laoghaire → A96); safety & crime are the DMR South Garda division.

65/100
Quality of Life
66/100
Dun Laoghaire leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (D04 / A96) 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.

BallsbridgeDun LaoghaireOverall (avg)
Safety65606671
Affordability1510
Infrastructure10088
Family3862
Education7878
Environment8080
Economic8673
020406080100020406080100
#50
National ranklower is better
#35
Dun Laoghaire leads
#13
County ranklower is better
#10
Dun Laoghaire leads
60/100
Safety
71/100
Dun Laoghaire leads
60.2
Crime / 1,000lower is better
41.6
Dun Laoghaire 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.

Ballsbridge Affluent+11.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Pembroke East A -2 (least affluent) → Pembroke West C +15 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Dun Laoghaire Affluent+7.3
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Cabinteely-granitefield +3 (least affluent) → Mansion House B +17 (most affluent). Even its least-affluent neighbourhood is above 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 South), 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 156 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Ballsbridge

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.