Town comparison · Rathfarnham vs Sandyford

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Rathfarnham or Sandyford?

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.

Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin City · D14 · 2,265 people | Sandyford, Co. Dublin City · D18 · 3,522 people

Sandyford is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 4 of the 7 dimensions to Rathfarnham’s 0, with 3 level.

Sandyford leads on
education levelsschools & amenitiespublic transportaffordability
92023

Rathfarnham aheadlevel or not comparableSandyford ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
RathfarnhamSandyford
iRathfarnham sits in D14, Sandyford in D18. 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.
!Rathfarnham & Sandyford 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.

Rathfarnham
Sandyford

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.

2,265
Population
3,522

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€705k
Median sale pricelower is better
€485k
Sandyford leads
€569k – €897k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€400k – €686k
734
Sales (24m)
452
+12.1%
Price momentum (YoY)
+20.2%
10.8%
New-build share
10.6%

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.

3 prim · 1 sec
Schools
3 prim · 0 sec
Rathfarnham leads
Rathfarnham · 4 schools (largest first)
Loreto High School Secondary
645 pupils · 90% to 3rd-level · CATHOLICFee-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
Sandyford · 3 schools (largest first)
Stepaside Educate Together National School Primary
514 pupils · Multi Denominational
Gaelscoil Thaobh Na Coille Primary
409 pupils · Catholic
St. Mary's National School Primary
244 pupils · Catholic
8
Creches
12
Sandyford leads
1
GP practices
2
Sandyford leads
3
Pharmacies
5
Sandyford leads
0
Hospitals
1
Sandyford leads
25
Bus stops
52
Sandyford leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
6
Sandyford leads
2
Gyms & leisure
20
Sandyford leads
4
Parks & playgrounds
8
Sandyford leads
9
Sports pitches
13
Sandyford 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.

1
Restaurants
12
Sandyford leads
2
Cafés
17
Sandyford leads
4
Pubs & bars
3
Rathfarnham leads
3
Takeaways
10
Sandyford leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
227
Residents per venuelower is better
84
Sandyford 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.

0
Supermarkets
4
Sandyford leads
6
Convenience shops
6
1
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
1
3
Banks
3
1
Post offices
1
3
Hairdressers
4
Sandyford leads
0
Dentists
1
Sandyford leads
0
Vets
1
Sandyford leads
3
Filling stations
1
Rathfarnham leads
0
EV charging
6
Sandyford leads
1
Library & community centre
3
Sandyford leads
126
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
114
Sandyford 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.

17m · ~35 rush
Dublinlower is better
21m · ~40 rush
Rathfarnham leads
118m · ~130 rush
Waterford
118m · ~130 rush
139m · ~155 rush
Limericklower is better
140m · ~160 rush
Rathfarnham leads
151m · ~175 rush
Galway
151m · ~175 rush
178m · ~200 rush
Corklower is better
179m · ~200 rush
Rathfarnham leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
7.1
Affluence (Pobal HP)
7.4
Sandyford leads
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
Sandyford · 12 EDs, poorest → richest
-7EdmondstownBelow average
-1EdmondstownBelow average
+6Dundrum-sandyfordAffluent
+6Dundrum-balallyAffluent
+8Dundrum-sandyfordAffluent
+9Dundrum-balallyAffluent
+9GlencullenAffluent
+9GlencullenAffluent
+9Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Foxrock-carrickminesAffluent
+10Mansion House BAffluent
+17Mansion House BVery affluent
59.2%
Third-level educated
61.5%
Sandyford leads
61.6%
Professional class
52.9%
Rathfarnham leads
5.7%
Unemploymentlower is better
6.9%
Rathfarnham leads
84.6%
Owner-occupier
58.0%
Rathfarnham leads
12.9%
Private rental
32.8%
2.1%
Social housing (LA)
6.7%

Liveability & safety

AREA · D14 / D18

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (RathfarnhamD14, SandyfordD18); safety & crime are the DMR South Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

71/100
Quality of Life
71/100

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (D14 / D18) 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.

RathfarnhamSandyfordOverall (avg)
Safety71607160
Affordability1034
Infrastructure100100
Family7563
Education8670
Environment7482
Economic9086
020406080100020406080100
#10
National rank
#10
#2
County rank
#2
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.

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.
Sandyford Affluent+7.4
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Edmondstown -7 (least affluent) → Mansion House B +17 (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 17 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Sandyford

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.