Town comparison · Headford vs Williamstown

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Headford or Williamstown?

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.

Headford, Co. Galway · H91 · 1,418 people | Williamstown, Co. Galway · F45 · 198 people

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

Headford leads on
affluenceeducation levelspublic transportaccess to its nearest city
Williamstown leads on
safetyaffordability
22219

Headford aheadlevel or not comparableWilliamstown ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
HeadfordWilliamstown
iHeadford sits in H91, Williamstown in F45. 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.

Headford
Williamstown

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.

1,418
Population
198

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€370k
Median sale pricelower is better
€100k
Williamstown leads
€315k – €415k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€71k – €178k
191
Sales (24m)
19
N/A
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
16.2%
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.

2 prim · 1 sec
Schools
1 prim · 0 sec
Headford leads
Headford · 3 schools (largest first)
Presentation College Secondary
845 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Headford Primary School Primary
138 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Naomh Padraig Primary
64 pupils · Catholic
Williamstown · 1 schools (largest first)
Croi Ronaofa Meascaithe Primary
109 pupils · CatholicDEIS
2
Creches
2
N/A
GP practices
N/A
0
Pharmacies
0
0
Hospitals
0
13
Bus stops
4
Headford leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
1
Gyms & leisure
0
Headford leads
0
Parks & playgrounds
1
Williamstown leads
11
Sports pitches
2
Headford 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.

0
Restaurants
0
1
Cafés
0
Headford leads
1
Pubs & bars
2
Williamstown leads
1
Takeaways
0
Headford leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
473
Residents per venuelower is better
99
Williamstown 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.

2
Supermarkets
0
Headford leads
1
Convenience shops
0
Headford leads
0
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
0
1
Banks
0
Headford leads
1
Post offices
0
Headford leads
0
Hairdressers
0
0
Dentists
0
0
Vets
0
2
Filling stations
1
Headford leads
1
EV charging
0
Headford leads
0
Library & community centre
0
177
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
198
Headford 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.

28m · ~50 rush
Galwaylower is better
62m · ~85 rush
Headford leads
94m · ~110 rush
Limericklower is better
108m · ~125 rush
Headford leads
164m · ~200 rush
Dublinlower is better
142m · ~175 rush
Williamstown leads
174m · ~195 rush
Corklower is better
188m · ~210 rush
Headford leads
207m · ~220 rush
Waterfordlower is better
196m · ~210 rush
Williamstown leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-1.5
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-9
Headford leads
Headford · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-4HeadfordBelow average
+1HeadfordAbove average
Williamstown · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-14KilcroanDisadvantaged
-4KilcroanBelow average
39.7%
Third-level educated
19.4%
Headford leads
39.6%
Professional class
27.3%
Headford leads
10.8%
Unemploymentlower is better
9.7%
Williamstown leads
75.5%
Owner-occupier
75.5%
17.4%
Private rental
14.1%
4.9%
Social housing (LA)
4.5%

Liveability & safety

AREA · H91 / F45

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (HeadfordH91, WilliamstownF45); safety & crime are the Galway Garda division.

69/100
Quality of Life
60/100
Headford leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (H91 / F45) 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.

HeadfordWilliamstownOverall (avg)
Safety69616077
Affordability75100
Infrastructure8135
Family7588
Education5018
Environment8880
Economic5525
020406080100020406080100
#26
National ranklower is better
#81
Headford leads
#1
County ranklower is better
#3
Headford leads
61/100
Safety
77/100
Williamstown leads
60.1
Crime / 1,000lower is better
35
Williamstown 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.

Headford Below average-1.5
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Headford -4 (least affluent) → Headford +1 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Williamstown Disadvantaged-9.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Kilcroan -14 (least affluent) → Kilcroan -4 (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 (Galway), 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 6 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Headford

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.