Town comparison · Buncrana vs Laghy

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Buncrana or Laghy?

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.

Buncrana, Co. Donegal · F93 · 6,029 people | Laghy, Co. Donegal · F94 · 176 people

Buncrana is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions to Laghy’s 0, with 4 level.

Buncrana leads on
education levelsschools & amenitiespublic transport
191914

Buncrana aheadlevel or not comparableLaghy ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
BuncranaLaghy
iBuncrana sits in F93, Laghy in F94. 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.

Buncrana
Laghy

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.

6,029
Population
176

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€197k
Median sale pricelower is better
€76k
Laghy leads
€140k – €266k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€55k – €96k
100
Sales (24m)
2
N/A
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
5.0%
New-build share
N/A

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
1 prim · 0 sec
Buncrana leads
Buncrana · 7 schools (largest first)
Scoil Mhuire Secondary School Secondary
875 pupils · 50% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICDEIS
Crana College Secondary
604 pupils · 45% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Coláiste Eoghain Secondary
17 pupils · 55% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Scoil Iosagain Primary
790 pupils · Catholic
St Orans N S Primary
232 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Gaelscoil Bhun Cranncha Primary
69 pupils · Inter Denominational
St. Mura's National School Primary
30 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Laghy · 1 schools (largest first)
Naomh Adhamhnain Primary
118 pupils · Catholic
15
Creches
0
Buncrana leads
N/A
GP practices
N/A
2
Pharmacies
0
Buncrana leads
1
Hospitals
0
Buncrana leads
10
Bus stops
2
Buncrana leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
7
Gyms & leisure
0
Buncrana leads
5
Parks & playgrounds
0
Buncrana leads
21
Sports pitches
2
Buncrana 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.

3
Restaurants
1
Buncrana leads
1
Cafés
1
2
Pubs & bars
0
Buncrana leads
1
Takeaways
0
Buncrana leads
0
Nightclubs
0
1
Cinema & theatre
0
Buncrana leads
754
Residents per venuelower is better
88
Laghy 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
1
Buncrana leads
1
Convenience shops
1
0
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
0
1
Banks
0
Buncrana leads
0
Post offices
0
0
Hairdressers
0
0
Dentists
0
0
Vets
0
4
Filling stations
1
Buncrana leads
2
EV charging
1
Buncrana leads
2
Library & community centre
0
Buncrana leads
431
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
44
Laghy 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.

245m · ~270 rush
Galwaylower is better
170m · ~195 rush
Laghy leads
216m · ~250 rush
Dublinlower is better
180m · ~215 rush
Laghy leads
291m · ~310 rush
Limericklower is better
217m · ~235 rush
Laghy leads
322m · ~335 rush
Waterfordlower is better
276m · ~290 rush
Laghy leads
370m · ~390 rush
Corklower is better
296m · ~320 rush
Laghy leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-9.5
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-10
Buncrana leads
Buncrana · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-13Buncrana UrbanDisadvantaged
-10Buncrana RuralDisadvantaged
-9Buncrana UrbanDisadvantaged
-6Buncrana RuralBelow average
Laghy · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-12LaghyDisadvantaged
-8LaghyDisadvantaged
31.1%
Third-level educated
24.9%
Buncrana leads
29.7%
Professional class
31.0%
Laghy leads
16.9%
Unemploymentlower is better
10.4%
Laghy leads
64.7%
Owner-occupier
80.8%
Laghy leads
18.8%
Private rental
10.4%
13.2%
Social housing (LA)
6.5%

Liveability & safety

AREA · F93 / F94

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (BuncranaF93, LaghyF94); safety & crime are the Donegal Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

54/100
Quality of Life
57/100
Laghy leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (F93 / F94) 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.

BuncranaLaghyOverall (avg)
Safety54715771
Affordability100100
Infrastructure2222
Family8083
Education1720
Environment6974
Economic1928
020406080100020406080100
#101
National ranklower is better
#93
Laghy leads
#3
County ranklower is better
#2
Laghy leads
71/100
Safety
71/100
44.8
Crime / 1,000
44.8

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.

Buncrana Disadvantaged-9.5
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Buncrana Urban -13 (least affluent) → Buncrana Rural -6 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.
Laghy Disadvantaged-10.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Laghy -12 (least affluent) → Laghy -8 (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 (Donegal), 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 25 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Buncrana

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.