Town comparison · Blackrock vs Rathfarnham

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Blackrock or Rathfarnham?

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.

Blackrock, Co. Dublin City · A94 · 6,359 people | Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin City · D14 · 2,265 people

Blackrock is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 5 of the 7 dimensions to Rathfarnham’s 0, with 2 level.

Blackrock leads on
affluenceeducation levelsschools & amenitiespublic transportsafety
33118

Blackrock aheadlevel or not comparableRathfarnham ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BlackrockRathfarnham
iBlackrock sits in A94, Rathfarnham in D14. 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.
!Blackrock & Rathfarnham 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.

Blackrock
Rathfarnham

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.

6,359
Population
2,265

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€860k
Median sale pricelower is better
€705k
Rathfarnham leads
€600k – €1209k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€569k – €897k
694
Sales (24m)
734
+0.4%
Price momentum (YoY)
+12.1%
10.2%
New-build share
10.8%

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.

6 prim · 2 sec
Schools
3 prim · 1 sec
Blackrock leads
Blackrock · 8 schools (largest first)
Newpark Comprehensive School Secondary
849 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELAND
Dominican College Secondary
508 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Carysfort Ns Primary
588 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Padraig Naofa B Primary
512 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Lorcáin Primary
488 pupils · Catholic
St Patricks Gns Primary
487 pupils · Catholic
Booterstown N S Primary
92 pupils · Church Of Ireland
All Saints N S Primary
50 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Rathfarnham · 4 schools (largest first)
Loreto High School Secondary
645 pupils · 90% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICFee-paying
Scoil Mhuire Boys Primary
388 pupils · Catholic
Na Maighdine Muire Girl Primary
224 pupils · Catholic
Scoil An Maighdine Mhuire Boys Primary
201 pupils · Catholic
12
Creches
8
Blackrock leads
8
GP practices
1
Blackrock leads
8
Pharmacies
3
Blackrock leads
1
Hospitals
0
Blackrock leads
62
Bus stops
25
Blackrock leads
2
Rail / Luas stops
0
Blackrock leads
23
Gyms & leisure
2
Blackrock leads
7
Parks & playgrounds
4
Blackrock leads
43
Sports pitches
9
Blackrock 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.

16
Restaurants
1
Blackrock leads
22
Cafés
2
Blackrock leads
6
Pubs & bars
4
Blackrock leads
13
Takeaways
3
Blackrock leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
112
Residents per venuelower is better
227
Blackrock 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.

3
Supermarkets
0
Blackrock leads
10
Convenience shops
6
Blackrock leads
2
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
1
Blackrock leads
4
Banks
3
Blackrock leads
1
Post offices
1
19
Hairdressers
3
Blackrock leads
7
Dentists
0
Blackrock leads
1
Vets
0
Blackrock leads
1
Filling stations
3
Rathfarnham leads
3
EV charging
0
Blackrock leads
4
Library & community centre
1
Blackrock leads
116
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
126
Blackrock 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.

17m · ~35 rush
Dublin
17m · ~35 rush
123m · ~135 rush
Waterfordlower is better
118m · ~130 rush
Rathfarnham leads
145m · ~165 rush
Limericklower is better
139m · ~155 rush
Rathfarnham leads
156m · ~180 rush
Galwaylower is better
151m · ~175 rush
Rathfarnham leads
184m · ~205 rush
Corklower is better
178m · ~200 rush
Rathfarnham leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
9.5
Affluence (Pobal HP)
7.1
Blackrock leads
Blackrock · 17 EDs, poorest → richest
+5Blackrock-newparkAffluent
+6Blackrock-templehillAffluent
+6Blackrock-newparkAffluent
+7Blackrock-templehillAffluent
+9Foxrock-deansgrangeAffluent
+9Stillorgan-prioryAffluent
+9Blackrock-carysfortAffluent
+10Blackrock-carysfortAffluent
+10Stillorgan-prioryAffluent
+10Mansion House BAffluent
+10Blackrock-seapointAffluent
+10Blackrock-glenomenaAffluent
+11Blackrock-seapointAffluent
+12Blackrock-centralAffluent
+12Blackrock-glenomenaAffluent
+12Blackrock-centralVery affluent
+17Mansion House BVery affluent
Rathfarnham · 16 EDs, poorest → richest
-7EdmondstownBelow average
-1EdmondstownBelow average
+4Rathfarnham-st. Enda'sAffluent
+5Rathfarnham-st. Enda'sAffluent
+7Ballinteer-woodparkAffluent
+7Rathfarnham-butterfieldAffluent
+8Rathfarnham-butterfieldAffluent
+9Ballinteer-woodparkAffluent
+9Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Templeogue-kimmage ManorAffluent
+10Churchtown-landscapeAffluent
+10Rathfarnham VillageAffluent
+10Rathfarnham VillageAffluent
+10Templeogue-kimmage ManorAffluent
+11Churchtown-landscapeAffluent
72.2%
Third-level educated
59.2%
Blackrock leads
63.9%
Professional class
61.6%
Blackrock leads
5.8%
Unemploymentlower is better
5.7%
Rathfarnham leads
68.9%
Owner-occupier
84.6%
Rathfarnham leads
25.5%
Private rental
12.9%
3.6%
Social housing (LA)
2.1%

Liveability & safety

AREA · A94 / D14

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (BlackrockA94, RathfarnhamD14); safety & crime are the DMR East Garda division.

72/100
Quality of Life
71/100
Blackrock leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (A94 / D14) 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.

BlackrockRathfarnhamOverall (avg)
Safety72717160
Affordability1010
Infrastructure88100
Family7675
Education8586
Environment8074
Economic9490
020406080100020406080100
#4
National ranklower is better
#10
Blackrock leads
#1
County ranklower is better
#2
Blackrock leads
71/100
Safety
60/100
Blackrock leads
41.6
Crime / 1,000lower is better
60.2
Blackrock 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.

Blackrock Affluent+9.5
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Blackrock-newpark +5 (least affluent) → Mansion House B +17 (most affluent). Even its least-affluent neighbourhood is above the national average.
Rathfarnham Affluent+7.1
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Edmondstown -7 (least affluent) → Churchtown-landscape +12 (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 (DMR East), 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 Blackrock

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.