Town comparison · Donegal vs Drogheda

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Donegal or Drogheda?

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.

Donegal, Co. Donegal · F94 · 3,000 people | Drogheda, Co. Louth · A92 · 41,452 people

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

Donegal leads on
affluenceeducation levelssafetyaffordability
Drogheda leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transportaccess to its nearest city
12832

Donegal aheadlevel or not comparableDrogheda ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
DonegalDrogheda
iDonegal sits in F94, Drogheda in A92. 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.

Donegal
Drogheda

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.

3,000
Population
41,452

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€190k
Median sale pricelower is better
€339k
Donegal leads
€125k – €270k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€282k – €374k
1,543
Sales (24m)
1,607
N/A
Price momentum (YoY)
+55.3%
5.2%
New-build share
52.8%

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.

4 prim · 1 sec
Schools
13 prim · 8 sec
Drogheda leads
Donegal · 5 schools (largest first)
Abbey Vocational School Secondary
999 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Scoil An Linbh Íosa Primary
266 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Aodh Rua&nuala Primary
235 pupils · Catholic
Glebe Ns Primary
121 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Gaelscoil Na Gceithre Maistri Primary
54 pupils · Inter Denominational
Drogheda · 21 schools (largest first)
St Oliver's Community College Secondary
1,517 pupils · 50% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
St. Joseph's C.b.s. Secondary
1,057 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Ballymakenny College Secondary
1,003 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Our Lady's College Secondary
973 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
St Mary's Diocesan School Secondary
915 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Sacred Heart Secondary School Secondary
706 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Drogheda Grammar School Secondary
553 pupils · 90% to 3rd-level · QUAKERFee-paying
Laytown & Drogheda Educate Together Secondary School Secondary
496 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
St Marys Parish Primary School Primary
972 pupils · Catholic
St Brigid's And St Patrick's National School Primary
573 pupils · CatholicDEIS
St Pauls Senior Ns Primary
471 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Rathmullan N S Primary
412 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Le Cheile Educate Together Ns Primary
390 pupils · Multi Denominational
Aston Village Educate Together National School Primary
373 pupils · Multi Denominational
Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa Primary
366 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Presentation Convent Primary
350 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Scoil Na Mbraithre Sn Primary
345 pupils · CatholicDEIS
S N Ard Mhuire C Primary
313 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Naomh Seosamh Primary
295 pupils · Catholic
S N Aonghusa Primary
162 pupils · Catholic
S N Naomh Peadar Primary
92 pupils · Church Of Ireland
11
Creches
33
Drogheda leads
2
GP practices
4
Drogheda leads
3
Pharmacies
9
Drogheda leads
1
Hospitals
3
Drogheda leads
3
Bus stops
100
Drogheda leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
1
Drogheda leads
2
Gyms & leisure
20
Drogheda leads
2
Parks & playgrounds
6
Drogheda leads
12
Sports pitches
64
Drogheda 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
20
Drogheda leads
4
Cafés
12
Drogheda leads
14
Pubs & bars
30
Drogheda leads
6
Takeaways
16
Drogheda leads
0
Nightclubs
1
Drogheda leads
0
Cinema & theatre
2
Drogheda leads
81
Residents per venuelower is better
512
Donegal leads

Donegal is a small town and Drogheda is a large 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.

3
Supermarkets
12
Drogheda leads
4
Convenience shops
19
Drogheda leads
2
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
4
Drogheda leads
5
Banks
3
Donegal leads
1
Post offices
2
Drogheda leads
4
Hairdressers
12
Drogheda leads
1
Dentists
2
Drogheda leads
2
Vets
2
4
Filling stations
10
Drogheda leads
4
EV charging
7
Drogheda leads
4
Library & community centre
3
Donegal leads
88
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
545
Donegal 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.

186m · ~220 rush
Dublinlower is better
42m · ~75 rush
Drogheda leads
283m · ~295 rush
Waterfordlower is better
148m · ~160 rush
Drogheda leads
223m · ~240 rush
Limericklower is better
169m · ~185 rush
Drogheda leads
177m · ~200 rush
Galwaylower is better
174m · ~200 rush
Drogheda leads
303m · ~325 rush
Corklower is better
208m · ~230 rush
Drogheda leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-4.2
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-8
Donegal leads
Donegal · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-6DonegalBelow average
-3DonegalBelow average
Drogheda · 9 EDs, poorest → richest
-13West GateDisadvantaged
-12West GateDisadvantaged
-12Fair GateDisadvantaged
-9Fair GateDisadvantaged
-4St. Lawrence GateBelow average
-4St. Mary'sBelow average
-4St. Mary's (part)Below average
-3St. Mary'sBelow average
-2St. Peter'sBelow average
36.1%
Third-level educated
29.9%
Donegal leads
36.0%
Professional class
29.7%
Donegal leads
10.5%
Unemploymentlower is better
14.3%
Donegal leads
70.6%
Owner-occupier
67.1%
Donegal leads
18.6%
Private rental
19.6%
9.0%
Social housing (LA)
9.9%

Liveability & safety

AREA · F94 / A92

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Donegal → F94, Drogheda → A92); safety & crime are the Donegal Garda division.

57/100
Quality of Life
67/100
Drogheda leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (F94 / A92) 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.

DonegalDroghedaOverall (avg)
Safety57716754
Affordability10088
Infrastructure2293
Family8373
Education2048
Environment7474
Economic2836
020406080100020406080100
#93
National ranklower is better
#31
Drogheda leads
#2
County ranklower is better
#1
Drogheda leads
71/100
Safety
54/100
Donegal leads
44.8
Crime / 1,000lower is better
68
Donegal 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.

Donegal Below average-4.2
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Donegal -6 (least affluent) → Donegal -3 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.
Drogheda Below average-8.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: West Gate -13 (least affluent) → St. Peter's -2 (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 156 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Donegal

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.