Town comparison · Bandon vs Macroom

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Bandon or Macroom?

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.

Bandon, Co. Cork · P72 · 6,899 people | Macroom, Co. Cork · P12 · 4,235 people

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

Bandon leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transportsafetyaccess to its nearest city
Macroom leads on
affluenceeducation levelsaffordability
271412

Bandon aheadlevel or not comparableMacroom ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BandonMacroom
iBandon sits in P72, Macroom in P12. 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.

Bandon
Macroom

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.

6,899
Population
4,235

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€330k
Median sale pricelower is better
€319k
Macroom leads
€270k – €400k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€268k – €361k
413
Sales (24m)
220
+9.4%
Price momentum (YoY)
+13.4%
39.2%
New-build share
43.6%

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 · 3 sec
Schools
2 prim · 3 sec
Bandon leads
Bandon · 7 schools (largest first)
St. Brogan's College Secondary
861 pupils · 50% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Coláiste Na Toirbhirte Secondary
451 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Árdscoil Uí Urmoltaigh Secondary
429 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Bandon Primary School Primary
376 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Bhride Primary
190 pupils · Catholic
S N Droichead Na Bandan Primary
187 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Gaelscoil Droichead Na Banndan Primary
167 pupils · Catholic
Macroom · 5 schools (largest first)
De La Salle College Secondary
423 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
St Mary's Secondary School Secondary
420 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Mcegan College Secondary
272 pupils · 35% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Macroom Convent N S Primary
308 pupils · Catholic
Macroom Boys Senior National School Primary
192 pupils · Catholic
12
Creches
6
Bandon leads
1
GP practices
N/A
7
Pharmacies
4
Bandon leads
0
Hospitals
1
Macroom leads
7
Bus stops
3
Bandon leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
13
Gyms & leisure
7
Bandon leads
4
Parks & playgrounds
2
Bandon leads
33
Sports pitches
19
Bandon 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.

6
Restaurants
1
Bandon leads
9
Cafés
5
Bandon leads
15
Pubs & bars
9
Bandon leads
7
Takeaways
5
Bandon leads
1
Nightclubs
0
Bandon leads
0
Cinema & theatre
0
182
Residents per venuelower is better
212
Bandon leads
#14 of 131 small towns
Most vibrant (national)lower is better
#49 of 131 small towns
Bandon 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.

4
Supermarkets
4
7
Convenience shops
7
4
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
3
Bandon leads
5
Banks
5
1
Post offices
2
Macroom leads
6
Hairdressers
12
Macroom leads
3
Dentists
3
3
Vets
1
Bandon leads
7
Filling stations
3
Bandon leads
3
EV charging
1
Bandon leads
2
Library & community centre
4
Macroom leads
153
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
94
Macroom 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.

30m · ~50 rush
Corklower is better
39m · ~60 rush
Bandon leads
117m · ~135 rush
Limericklower is better
110m · ~130 rush
Macroom leads
131m · ~145 rush
Waterfordlower is better
139m · ~155 rush
Bandon leads
186m · ~210 rush
Galwaylower is better
180m · ~205 rush
Macroom leads
201m · ~235 rush
Dublinlower is better
209m · ~245 rush
Bandon leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-3.7
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-2.4
Macroom leads
Bandon · 8 EDs, poorest → richest
-9BandonDisadvantaged
-7BandonBelow average
-4BallymodanBelow average
-2BallymodanBelow average
+3KilbroganAbove average
+3KilbroganAbove average
+7InishannonAffluent
+10InishannonAffluent
Macroom · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-4Macroom UrbanBelow average
-1Macroom UrbanBelow average
33.0%
Third-level educated
36.3%
Macroom leads
32.4%
Professional class
32.2%
Bandon leads
11.3%
Unemploymentlower is better
9.9%
Macroom leads
59.9%
Owner-occupier
61.2%
Macroom leads
25.4%
Private rental
23.3%
11.4%
Social housing (LA)
12.6%

Liveability & safety

AREA · P72 / P12

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (BandonP72, MacroomP12); safety & crime are the Cork West Garda division.

70/100
Quality of Life
65/100
Bandon leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (P72 / P12) 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.

BandonMacroomOverall (avg)
Safety70896561
Affordability8489
Infrastructure5238
Family8387
Education5344
Environment6673
Economic6066
020406080100020406080100
#18
National ranklower is better
#50
Bandon leads
#5
County ranklower is better
#11
Bandon leads
89/100
Safety
61/100
Bandon leads
17.3
Crime / 1,000lower is better
58.8
Bandon 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.

Bandon Below average-3.7
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Bandon -9 (least affluent) → Inishannon +10 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Macroom Below average-2.4
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Macroom Urban -4 (least affluent) → Macroom Urban -1 (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 (Cork West), 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 42 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Bandon

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.