Town comparison · Swords vs Whitehall

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Swords or Whitehall?

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.

Swords, Co. Fingal · K67 · 38,308 people | Whitehall, Co. Dublin · D09 · 13,675 people

Swords is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions to Whitehall’s 1, with 3 level.

Swords leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transportaffordability
Whitehall leads on
education levels
331010

Swords aheadlevel or not comparableWhitehall ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
SwordsWhitehall
iSwords sits in K67, Whitehall in D09. 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.

Swords
Whitehall

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.

38,308
Population
13,675

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€436k
Median sale pricelower is better
€505k
Swords leads
€361k – €495k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€425k – €625k
1,098
Sales (24m)
297
+6.9%
Price momentum (YoY)
-4.2%
20.2%
New-build share
4.4%

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.

12 prim · 5 sec
Schools
2 prim · 2 sec
Swords leads
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
Whitehall · 5 schools (largest first)
Clonturk College Secondary
939 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
St. Aidan's C.b.s. Secondary
728 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Dublin City University Third-level
enrolment n/a · university
Scoil An Leinbh Iosa Boys Seniors Primary
315 pupils · Catholic
North Dublin Ns Project Primary
214 pupils · Multi Denominational
40
Creches
7
Swords leads
5
GP practices
4
Swords leads
12
Pharmacies
4
Swords leads
1
Hospitals
3
Whitehall leads
125
Bus stops
30
Swords leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
17
Gyms & leisure
6
Swords leads
28
Parks & playgrounds
2
Swords leads
77
Sports pitches
29
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.

21
Restaurants
5
Swords leads
17
Cafés
9
Swords leads
18
Pubs & bars
5
Swords leads
28
Takeaways
8
Swords leads
0
Nightclubs
0
1
Cinema & theatre
2
Whitehall leads
451
Residents per venuelower is better
472
Swords leads
#20 of 65 large towns
Most vibrant (national)lower is better
#53 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.

15
Supermarkets
1
Swords leads
14
Convenience shops
6
Swords leads
6
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
0
Swords leads
7
Banks
1
Swords leads
2
Post offices
0
Swords leads
22
Hairdressers
3
Swords leads
5
Dentists
0
Swords leads
3
Vets
0
Swords leads
5
Filling stations
1
Swords leads
8
EV charging
1
Swords leads
7
Library & community centre
2
Swords leads
408
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
912
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.

21m · ~40 rush
Dublinlower is better
11m · ~20 rush
Whitehall leads
127m · ~140 rush
Waterfordlower is better
123m · ~135 rush
Whitehall leads
148m · ~165 rush
Limericklower is better
144m · ~160 rush
Whitehall leads
153m · ~175 rush
Galwaylower is better
149m · ~175 rush
Whitehall leads
187m · ~210 rush
Corklower is better
183m · ~205 rush
Whitehall leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
1.6
Affluence (Pobal HP)
0.8
Swords leads
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
Whitehall · 8 EDs, poorest → richest
-3Whitehall CBelow average
-2Whitehall BBelow average
+0Whitehall DAbove average
+0Whitehall DAbove average
+1Whitehall BAbove average
+2Whitehall AAbove average
+3Whitehall CAbove average
+5Whitehall AAffluent
40.5%
Third-level educated
44.8%
Whitehall leads
39.9%
Professional class
40.2%
Whitehall leads
7.7%
Unemploymentlower is better
8.4%
Swords leads
72.2%
Owner-occupier
68.3%
Swords leads
21.2%
Private rental
23.4%
5.4%
Social housing (LA)
5.3%

Liveability & safety

AREA · K67 / D09

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Swords → K67, Whitehall → D09); safety & crime are the DMR North Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

66/100
Quality of Life
64/100
Swords leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (K67 / D09) 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.

SwordsWhitehallOverall (avg)
Safety66596459
Affordability6654
Infrastructure75100
Family6762
Education5648
Environment7474
Economic6253
020406080100020406080100
#35
National ranklower is better
#58
Swords leads
#10
County ranklower is better
#15
Swords leads
59/100
Safety
59/100
61.8
Crime / 1,000lower is better
61.5
Whitehall 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.

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.
Whitehall Above average+0.8
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Whitehall C -3 (least affluent) → Whitehall A +5 (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 177 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.