EmoCo. Laois vs Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough)Co. LaoisTown level

The same comparison as the area page, but measured for the town itself, not the whole Eircode routing key.

Compare other towns
iBoth towns sit in the same Eircode area R32 — 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.
Emo
Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough)

Outlines are each town's CSO Small Areas — the exact footprint every figure is measured over.

TOWNS
Emo
Co. LAOIS · in R32 · pop 283 · 1 small areas
Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough)
Co. LAOIS · in R32 · pop 23,120 · 79 small areas
Prices & market● TOWN · exact
Median sale price
€265k
€312k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€205k – €685k
€240k – €348k
Sales (24m)
9
432
Price momentum (YoY)
+25.1%
New-build share
13.3%
Schools, health & amenities● TOWN · counts
Count of each facility whose location falls inside the town boundary. Bigger towns naturally score higher — read alongside population.
Schools
0 prim · 0 sec
3 prim · 2 sec
Emo · 0 schools (largest first)
No schools inside the boundary.
Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough) · 5 schools (largest first)
Portlaoise College Secondary
952 pupils · 50% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Dunamase College (coláiste Dhún Másc) Secondary
577 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Scoil Bhride Ns Primary
737 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Holy Family Senior School Primary
643 pupils · Catholic
Holy Family Junior School Primary
601 pupils · Catholic
Creches
1
21
GP practices
0
0
Pharmacies
0
13
Hospitals
0
3
Bus stops
4
76
Rail / Luas stops
0
1
Gyms & leisure
0
0
Parks & playgrounds
0
0
Sports pitches
0
0
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.
Dublin
63m · ~100 rush
69m · ~105 rush
Limerick
86m · ~105 rush
81m · ~100 rush
Waterford
90m · ~105 rush
85m · ~100 rush
Cork
125m · ~145 rush
120m · ~140 rush
Galway
120m · ~145 rush
121m · ~145 rush
Affluence & profile● ELECTORAL DIVISION
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-2.3
-5
Emo · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-4EmoBelow average
-1EmoBelow average
Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough) · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-10Portlaoighise UrbanDisadvantaged
-8BorrisBelow average
-4Portlaoighise RuralBelow average
+1ClondarrigAbove average
Third-level educated
34.9%
36.3%
Professional class
39.7%
32.5%
Unemployment
10.4%
12.1%
Owner-occupier
89.2%
62.3%
Private rental
6.1%
21.4%
Social housing (LA)
1.1%
12.1%
Liveability & safety● AREA · R32 / R32
Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (EmoR32, Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough)R32); safety & crime are the Laois/Offaly Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.
Quality of Life
59/100
59/100

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (R32 / R32) 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.

EmoPortlaoise (formerly Maryborough)Overall (avg)
Safety59405940
Affordability9999
Infrastructure6161
Family7878
Education4444
Environment5858
Economic3636
020406080100020406080100
National rank
#85
#85
County rank
#1
#1
Safety
40/100
40/100
Crime / 1,000
90.8
90.8

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.

Emo Below average-2.3
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Emo -4 (least affluent) → Emo -1 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.
Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough) Below average-5.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Portlaoighise Urban -10 (least affluent) → Clondarrig +1 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.

How accurate is this, and at what level?

● TOWN
Prices, amenities & commute — exact, 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. The figures the routing-key area page can't give you.

● ED
Affluence, profile & tenure — Electoral-Division level.

Pobal HP, third-level, class, unemployment, tenure are published per Electoral Division and averaged across the town's EDs — a range where the town spans several EDs (see the bar above).

● AREA
Liveability & safety — wider-area, not the town.

Quality of life and rank are per Eircode routing key; safety & crime are the Garda division (Laois/Offaly) — coarser than a town, so two towns in the same county read the same.

Population & growth are loaded for ~7 counties so far (not Leinster yet); rent & yield are too sparse per town. Tap Schools or Affluence to drill in. Built from 80 CSO Small Areas.
AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
EmoPortlaoise (formerly Maryborough)
The verdict

Emo is the stronger town on the data — it leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions to Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough)’s 2, with 2 level: affluence, affordability and access to its nearest city. Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough) leads on schools & amenities and public transport.

Higher is better on every spoke — affluence, education, amenity density, transport, safety, affordability and nearest-city access, scored head-to-head.

Homes for sale in Emo — the stronger town on the data
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