Town comparison · Ranelagh vs Rathfarnham

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Ranelagh or Rathfarnham?

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.

Ranelagh, Co. Dublin · D06 · 48,716 people | Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin City · D14 · 2,265 people

Ranelagh and Rathfarnham are closely matched. Each leads on 2 of the 7 dimensions, with 3 level.

Ranelagh leads on
affluenceeducation levels
Rathfarnham leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transport
171520

Ranelagh aheadlevel or not comparableRathfarnham ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
RanelaghRathfarnham
iRanelagh sits in D06, Rathfarnham in D14. 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.
!Ranelagh & Rathfarnham are city suburbs — its boundary follows the postal area (the Small Areas whose addresses carry the name), not an official settlement line, so it can run broader than the local core and the figures cover that wider postal patch.

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

Ranelagh
Rathfarnham

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.

48,716
Population
2,265

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€800k
Median sale pricelower is better
€705k
Rathfarnham leads
€542k – €1320k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€570k – €890k
902
Sales (24m)
747
+44.1%
Price momentum (YoY)
+11.2%
1.3%
New-build share
12.2%

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
4 prim · 2 sec
Rathfarnham leads
Ranelagh · 4 schools (largest first)
Christian Brothers, Synge St. Secondary
291 pupils · 35% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICDEIS
Technological University Dublin Third-level
enrolment n/a · technological_university
Presentation Primary School Primary
229 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Sancta Maria C B S Primary
101 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Rathfarnham · 6 schools (largest first)
Loreto High School Secondary
645 pupils · 90% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICFee-paying
St Columba's College Secondary
351 pupils · 85% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELANDFee-paying
Scoil Mhuire Boys Primary
388 pupils · Catholic
Na Maighdine Muire Girl Primary
224 pupils · Catholic
Scoil An Maighdine Mhuire Boys Primary
201 pupils · Catholic
Whitechurch Nat School Primary
199 pupils · Church Of Ireland
5
Creches
12
Rathfarnham leads
5
GP practices
1
Ranelagh leads
5
Pharmacies
3
Ranelagh leads
1
Hospitals
0
Ranelagh leads
20
Bus stops
41
Rathfarnham leads
2
Rail / Luas stops
0
Ranelagh leads
6
Gyms & leisure
7
Rathfarnham leads
3
Parks & playgrounds
6
Rathfarnham leads
2
Sports pitches
41
Rathfarnham 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.

30
Restaurants
1
Ranelagh leads
27
Cafés
5
Ranelagh leads
19
Pubs & bars
6
Ranelagh leads
25
Takeaways
3
Ranelagh leads
3
Nightclubs
0
Ranelagh leads
0
Cinema & theatre
1
Rathfarnham leads
468
Residents per venuelower is better
142
Rathfarnham leads

Ranelagh is a large town and Rathfarnham is a small 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.

0
Supermarkets
0
11
Convenience shops
7
Ranelagh leads
4
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
1
Ranelagh leads
3
Banks
3
2
Post offices
2
8
Hairdressers
3
Ranelagh leads
6
Dentists
0
Ranelagh leads
0
Vets
0
0
Filling stations
3
Rathfarnham leads
1
EV charging
2
Rathfarnham leads
2
Library & community centre
2
1,317
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
98
Rathfarnham 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.

10m · ~20 rush
Dublinlower is better
17m · ~35 rush
Ranelagh leads
118m · ~130 rush
Waterford
118m · ~130 rush
140m · ~160 rush
Limericklower is better
139m · ~155 rush
Rathfarnham leads
149m · ~175 rush
Galwaylower is better
151m · ~175 rush
Ranelagh leads
179m · ~200 rush
Corklower is better
178m · ~200 rush
Rathfarnham leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
10.7
Affluence (Pobal HP)
7.1
Ranelagh leads
Ranelagh · 31 EDs, poorest → richest
-6Royal Exchange BBelow average
+1Royal Exchange BAbove average
+5Wood Quay BAffluent
+6Saint Kevin'sAffluent
+6Wood Quay BAffluent
+9South DockAffluent
+10Rathmines West BAffluent
+10Rathmines West BAffluent
+10Rathmines West DAffluent
+10Rathmines West DAffluent
+10Rathmines West AAffluent
+10Rathmines East AAffluent
+10Mansion House BAffluent
+10Rathmines West FAffluent
+10Rathmines West FAffluent
+10Rathmines West AAffluent
+11South DockAffluent
+11Pembroke West CAffluent
+12Rathmines East DAffluent
+12Rathmines East CAffluent
+12Rathmines West CAffluent
+12Rathmines East BAffluent
+12Pembroke West BVery affluent
+12Rathmines East AVery affluent
+13Rathmines West CVery affluent
+13Rathmines East CVery affluent
+13Pembroke West BVery affluent
+13Rathmines East DVery affluent
+14Rathmines East BVery affluent
+15Pembroke West CVery affluent
+17Mansion House BVery affluent
Rathfarnham · 16 EDs, poorest → richest
-7EdmondstownBelow average
-1EdmondstownBelow average
+4Rathfarnham-st. Enda'sAffluent
+5Rathfarnham-st. Enda'sAffluent
+7Ballinteer-woodparkAffluent
+7Rathfarnham-butterfieldAffluent
+8Rathfarnham-butterfieldAffluent
+9Ballinteer-woodparkAffluent
+9Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Templeogue-kimmage ManorAffluent
+10Churchtown-landscapeAffluent
+10Rathfarnham VillageAffluent
+10Rathfarnham VillageAffluent
+10Templeogue-kimmage ManorAffluent
+11Churchtown-landscapeAffluent
76.9%
Third-level educated
59.2%
Ranelagh leads
55.5%
Professional class
61.6%
Rathfarnham leads
6.7%
Unemploymentlower is better
5.7%
Rathfarnham leads
34.2%
Owner-occupier
84.6%
Rathfarnham leads
57.9%
Private rental
12.9%
3.8%
Social housing (LA)
2.1%

Liveability & safety

AREA · D06 / D14

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Ranelagh → D06, Rathfarnham → D14); safety & crime are the DMR South Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

68/100
Quality of Life
71/100
Rathfarnham leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (D06 / D14) 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.

RanelaghRathfarnhamOverall (avg)
Safety68607160
Affordability1010
Infrastructure100100
Family4675
Education10086
Environment7474
Economic8990
020406080100020406080100
#28
National ranklower is better
#10
Rathfarnham leads
#9
County ranklower is better
#2
Rathfarnham leads
60/100
Safety
60/100
60.2
Crime / 1,000
60.2

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.

Ranelagh Affluent+10.7
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Royal Exchange B -6 (least affluent) → Mansion House B +17 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Rathfarnham Affluent+7.1
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Edmondstown -7 (least affluent) → Churchtown-landscape +12 (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 (DMR South), 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 232 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Ranelagh

The towns are level, so these are from the first.

Compare somewhere else

Put any two Irish towns head to head, or step up to the wider Eircode areas.