Town comparison · Drogheda vs Wexford

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Drogheda or Wexford?

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.

Drogheda, Co. Louth · A92 · 41,452 people | Wexford, Co. Wexford · Y35 · 22,366 people

Wexford is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 4 of the 7 dimensions to Drogheda’s 1, with 2 level.

Drogheda leads on
access to its nearest city
Wexford leads on
affluenceeducation levelssafetyaffordability
111131

Drogheda aheadlevel or not comparableWexford ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
DroghedaWexford
iDrogheda sits in A92, Wexford in Y35. 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.

Drogheda
Wexford

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.

41,452
Population
22,366

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€339k
Median sale pricelower is better
€275k
Wexford leads
€282k – €374k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€200k – €350k
1,607
Sales (24m)
2,083
+55.3%
Price momentum (YoY)
+37.8%
52.8%
New-build share
12.7%

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.

13 prim · 8 sec
Schools
8 prim · 5 sec
Drogheda leads
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
Wexford · 13 schools (largest first)
Presentation Secondary School Secondary
981 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Loreto Secondary School Secondary
930 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
St Peter's College Secondary
784 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Christian Brothers Secondary School Secondary
721 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Selskar College (coláiste Sheilscire) Secondary
390 pupils · 40% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Scoil Mhuire Coolcotts Primary
612 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Convent Of Mercy Primary
406 pupils · CatholicDEIS
S N Clochar Mhuire Primary
380 pupils · Catholic
Cbs Primary Wexford Primary
366 pupils · Catholic
Faythe Convent Primary
236 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Gaelscoil Loch Garman Primary
207 pupils · Catholic
Wexford Educate Together National School Primary
205 pupils · Multi Denominational
St Iberius N S Primary
79 pupils · Church Of Ireland
33
Creches
22
Drogheda leads
4
GP practices
12
Wexford leads
9
Pharmacies
19
Wexford leads
3
Hospitals
3
100
Bus stops
94
Drogheda leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
1
20
Gyms & leisure
25
Wexford leads
6
Parks & playgrounds
15
Wexford leads
64
Sports pitches
71
Wexford 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.

20
Restaurants
42
Wexford leads
12
Cafés
35
Wexford leads
30
Pubs & bars
42
Wexford leads
16
Takeaways
28
Wexford leads
1
Nightclubs
0
Drogheda leads
2
Cinema & theatre
5
Wexford leads
512
Residents per venuelower is better
147
Wexford leads
#21 of 65 large towns
Most vibrant (national)lower is better
#7 of 65 large towns
Wexford 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.

12
Supermarkets
10
Drogheda leads
19
Convenience shops
19
4
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
9
Wexford leads
3
Banks
5
Wexford leads
2
Post offices
1
Drogheda leads
12
Hairdressers
43
Wexford leads
2
Dentists
15
Wexford leads
2
Vets
3
Wexford leads
10
Filling stations
12
Wexford leads
7
EV charging
28
Wexford leads
3
Library & community centre
11
Wexford leads
545
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
143
Wexford 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.

42m · ~75 rush
Dublinlower is better
107m · ~140 rush
Drogheda leads
148m · ~160 rush
Waterfordlower is better
50m · ~65 rush
Wexford leads
208m · ~230 rush
Corklower is better
147m · ~170 rush
Wexford leads
169m · ~185 rush
Limericklower is better
160m · ~180 rush
Wexford leads
174m · ~200 rush
Galwaylower is better
222m · ~245 rush
Drogheda leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-8
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-6.3
Wexford leads
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
Wexford · 10 EDs, poorest → richest
-13Wexford No. 2 UrbanDisadvantaged
-6DrinaghBelow average
-6Wexford No. 1 UrbanBelow average
-5Wexford RuralBelow average
-5ArdcavanBelow average
-4DrinaghBelow average
-4Wexford No. 3 UrbanBelow average
+0ArdcavanAbove average
+0CarrickAbove average
+1CarrickAbove average
29.9%
Third-level educated
32.6%
Wexford leads
29.7%
Professional class
31.8%
Wexford leads
14.3%
Unemploymentlower is better
11.3%
Wexford leads
67.1%
Owner-occupier
60.3%
Drogheda leads
19.6%
Private rental
22.1%
9.9%
Social housing (LA)
13.3%

Liveability & safety

AREA · A92 / Y35

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Drogheda → A92, Wexford → Y35); safety & crime are the Louth Garda division.

67/100
Quality of Life
64/100
Drogheda leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (A92 / Y35) 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.

DroghedaWexfordOverall (avg)
Safety67546464
Affordability8894
Infrastructure9368
Family7370
Education4838
Environment7482
Economic3633
020406080100020406080100
#31
National ranklower is better
#58
Drogheda leads
#1
County rank
#1
54/100
Safety
64/100
Wexford leads
68
Crime / 1,000lower is better
52.9
Wexford 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.

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.
Wexford Below average-6.3
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Wexford No. 2 Urban -13 (least affluent) → Carrick +1 (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 (Louth), 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 237 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Wexford

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.