Town comparison · Skerries vs Swords

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Skerries or Swords?

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.

Skerries, Co. Fingal · K34 · 10,415 people | Swords, Co. Fingal · K67 · 38,308 people

Swords is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 5 of the 7 dimensions to Skerries’s 0, with 2 level.

Swords leads on
affluenceschools & amenitiespublic transportaffordabilityaccess to its nearest city
41039

Skerries aheadlevel or not comparableSwords ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
SkerriesSwords
iSkerries sits in K34, Swords in K67. 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.

Skerries
Swords

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.

10,415
Population
38,308

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€525k
Median sale pricelower is better
€433k
Swords leads
€435k – €642k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€360k – €494k
277
Sales (24m)
1,103
-10.9%
Price momentum (YoY)
+7.8%
9.0%
New-build share
19.0%

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.

5 prim · 1 sec
Schools
12 prim · 5 sec
Swords leads
Skerries · 6 schools (largest first)
Skerries Community College Secondary
1,029 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · INTER DENOMINATIONAL
Skerries Educate Together National School Primary
352 pupils · Multi DenominationalDEIS
Scoil Réalt Na Mara Primary
341 pupils · Catholic
St Patricks Snr Mixed Primary
339 pupils · Catholic
St Patricks Jnr Mixed Primary
281 pupils · Catholic
Holmpatrick N S Primary
69 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Swords · 17 schools (largest first)
Swords Community College Secondary
930 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Fingal Community College Secondary
866 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · INTER DENOMINATIONAL
St Finians Community College Secondary
661 pupils · 45% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Loreto College Secondary
632 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Coláiste Choilm Secondary
425 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Holy Family Senior N S Primary
627 pupils · Catholic
Holy Family Junior N S Primary
581 pupils · Catholic
Brackenstown Senior N S Primary
569 pupils · Catholic
St Cronans Junior National School Primary
499 pupils · Catholic
Gaelscoil Bhrian Bóroimhe Primary
444 pupils · Inter Denominational
Swords Educate Together Ns Primary
405 pupils · Multi Denominational
S N Cholmcille C Primary
371 pupils · Catholic
S N Cholmille B Primary
335 pupils · Catholic
Thornleigh Educate Together National School Primary
299 pupils · Multi DenominationalDEIS
River Valley Cns Primary
140 pupils · Multi Denominational
Swords Borough N S Primary
90 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Broadmeadow Community National School Primary
71 pupils · Multi Denominational
14
Creches
40
Swords leads
1
GP practices
5
Swords leads
3
Pharmacies
12
Swords leads
0
Hospitals
1
Swords leads
32
Bus stops
125
Swords leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
0
Skerries leads
9
Gyms & leisure
17
Swords leads
9
Parks & playgrounds
28
Swords leads
23
Sports pitches
77
Swords 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.

18
Restaurants
21
Swords leads
10
Cafés
17
Swords leads
8
Pubs & bars
18
Swords leads
4
Takeaways
28
Swords leads
0
Nightclubs
0
1
Cinema & theatre
1
254
Residents per venuelower is better
451
Skerries leads
#40 of 65 large towns
Most vibrant (national)lower is better
#20 of 65 large towns
Swords 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.

4
Supermarkets
15
Swords leads
2
Convenience shops
14
Swords leads
2
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
6
Swords leads
4
Banks
7
Swords leads
0
Post offices
2
Swords leads
2
Hairdressers
22
Swords leads
1
Dentists
5
Swords leads
0
Vets
3
Swords leads
1
Filling stations
5
Swords leads
2
EV charging
8
Swords leads
1
Library & community centre
7
Swords leads
548
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
408
Swords 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.

35m · ~70 rush
Dublinlower is better
21m · ~40 rush
Swords leads
141m · ~155 rush
Waterfordlower is better
127m · ~140 rush
Swords leads
162m · ~180 rush
Limericklower is better
148m · ~165 rush
Swords leads
167m · ~190 rush
Galwaylower is better
153m · ~175 rush
Swords leads
201m · ~225 rush
Corklower is better
187m · ~210 rush
Swords leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-1.9
Affluence (Pobal HP)
1.6
Swords leads
Skerries · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-8SkerriesDisadvantaged
+2SkerriesAbove average
+4HolmpatrickAbove average
+5HolmpatrickAffluent
Swords · 10 EDs, poorest → richest
-4Swords-glasmoreBelow average
-2Swords-glasmoreBelow average
-1Swords VillageBelow average
-1Swords VillageBelow average
+1Swords-lissenhallAbove average
+2Swords-lissenhallAbove average
+4Swords-forrestAbove average
+4Swords-forrestAbove average
+5Swords-seatownAffluent
+5Swords-seatownAffluent
39.3%
Third-level educated
40.5%
Swords leads
43.8%
Professional class
39.9%
Skerries leads
11.2%
Unemploymentlower is better
7.7%
Swords leads
70.6%
Owner-occupier
72.2%
Swords leads
9.1%
Private rental
21.2%
15.3%
Social housing (LA)
5.4%

Liveability & safety

AREA · K34 / K67

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (SkerriesK34, SwordsK67); safety & crime are the DMR North Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

57/100
Quality of Life
66/100
Swords leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (K34 / K67) 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.

SkerriesSwordsOverall (avg)
Safety57596659
Affordability4366
Infrastructure4475
Family7767
Education6056
Environment8074
Economic3462
020406080100020406080100
#93
National ranklower is better
#35
Swords leads
#21
County ranklower is better
#10
Swords leads
59/100
Safety
59/100
61.5
Crime / 1,000lower is better
61.8
Skerries 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.

Skerries Below average-1.9
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Skerries -8 (least affluent) → Holmpatrick +5 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Swords Above average+1.6
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Swords-glasmore -4 (least affluent) → Swords-seatown +6 (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 North), 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 161 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Swords

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.