Town comparison · Carlow vs Hacketstown

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Carlow or Hacketstown?

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.

Carlow, Co. Carlow · R93 · 26,162 people | Hacketstown, Co. Carlow · R93 · 653 people

Carlow is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 6 of the 7 dimensions to Hacketstown’s 0, with 1 level.

Carlow leads on
affluenceeducation levelsschools & amenitiespublic transportaffordabilityaccess to its nearest city
37123

Carlow aheadlevel or not comparableHacketstown ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
CarlowHacketstown
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. 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.

Carlow
Hacketstown

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.

26,162
Population
653

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€278k
Median sale pricelower is better
€291k
Carlow leads
€200k – €330k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€213k – €325k
965
Sales (24m)
28
+16.1%
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
12.4%
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.

10 prim · 5 sec
Schools
1 prim · 1 sec
Carlow leads
Carlow · 15 schools (largest first)
Tyndall College Secondary
1,002 pupils · 50% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
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
Carlow Educate Together Ns Primary
406 pupils · Multi DenominationalDEIS
Bennekerry National School Primary
383 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
Hacketstown · 2 schools (largest first)
Coláiste Eoin Secondary
365 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
St Josephs Ns Primary
138 pupils · CatholicDEIS
27
Creches
2
Carlow leads
3
GP practices
1
Carlow leads
9
Pharmacies
1
Carlow leads
2
Hospitals
0
Carlow leads
71
Bus stops
3
Carlow leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
0
Carlow leads
17
Gyms & leisure
1
Carlow leads
11
Parks & playgrounds
0
Carlow leads
70
Sports pitches
3
Carlow 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.

13
Restaurants
0
Carlow leads
12
Cafés
0
Carlow leads
22
Pubs & bars
3
Carlow leads
14
Takeaways
1
Carlow leads
1
Nightclubs
0
Carlow leads
3
Cinema & theatre
0
Carlow leads
402
Residents per venuelower is better
163
Hacketstown 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.

10
Supermarkets
1
Carlow leads
13
Convenience shops
1
Carlow leads
1
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
0
Carlow leads
4
Banks
1
Carlow leads
2
Post offices
1
Carlow leads
16
Hairdressers
0
Carlow leads
4
Dentists
0
Carlow leads
1
Vets
0
Carlow leads
13
Filling stations
1
Carlow leads
7
EV charging
0
Carlow leads
6
Library & community centre
0
Carlow leads
340
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
131
Hacketstown 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.

58m · ~70 rush
Waterfordlower is better
84m · ~100 rush
Carlow leads
69m · ~105 rush
Dublinlower is better
80m · ~115 rush
Carlow leads
113m · ~130 rush
Limericklower is better
139m · ~155 rush
Carlow leads
145m · ~165 rush
Corklower is better
170m · ~190 rush
Carlow leads
156m · ~180 rush
Galwaylower is better
180m · ~205 rush
Carlow leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-5.6
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-12.7
Carlow leads
Carlow · 6 EDs, poorest → richest
-14Graigue UrbanDisadvantaged
-10Graigue UrbanDisadvantaged
-9Carlow UrbanDisadvantaged
-5Graigue RuralBelow average
-4Carlow RuralBelow average
-2Graigue RuralBelow average
Hacketstown · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-15HacketstownDisadvantaged
-11HacketstownDisadvantaged
34.6%
Third-level educated
20.3%
Carlow leads
28.6%
Professional class
25.5%
Carlow leads
13.2%
Unemploymentlower is better
16.7%
Carlow leads
53.9%
Owner-occupier
71.5%
Hacketstown leads
26.0%
Private rental
9.7%
12.9%
Social housing (LA)
15.9%

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 (CarlowR93, HacketstownR93); safety & crime are the Kilkenny/Carlow Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

62/100
Quality of Life
62/100

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (R93 / R93) 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.

CarlowHacketstownOverall (avg)
Safety62626262
Affordability9696
Infrastructure6464
Family7070
Education4242
Environment6969
Economic3232
020406080100020406080100
#66
National rank
#66
#1
County rank
#1
62/100
Safety
62/100
57.6
Crime / 1,000
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.

Carlow Below average-5.6
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Graigue Urban -14 (least affluent) → Graigue Rural -2 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.
Hacketstown Disadvantaged-12.7
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Hacketstown -15 (least affluent) → Hacketstown -11 (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 (Kilkenny/Carlow), 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 92 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Carlow

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.