Ardara, Co. Donegal scores 50/100 for quality of life, #103 of the 108 Irish areas BuyerIQ ranks, and its fundamentals are rated “on the up — emerging”. The median home sells for €180,000 (most €132,500–€257,500), it scores 71/100 for safety (44.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents), 785 people live here. It's strongest on affordability and family & community, weakest on schools & education.
Updated August 2026 · Property Price Register + 20+ official sources, refreshed daily
Below average today — but the fundamentals are turning, faster than the national trend.
These seven scores and the 50/100 are measured across the F94 Eircode area, not Ardara alone — an area that takes in much of DONEGAL. A strong or weak pocket inside it can read very differently from the area average.
Ranked on quality of life alone — cost of living excluded, so the genuinely best areas rank top even though they cost more. Factor in price and Ardara is #93 of 108 for value for money (most quality of life per euro).
The score is for the F94 Eircode area; the crime rate is recorded per Garda division (Donegal). Neither is measured for Ardara on its own.
785 people.
Population is for Ardara itself (Census 2022, Small-Area boundary).
Not ranked: under 2,000 residents, one pub swings the per-head figure too far.
Census profile and the affluence rating are Electoral Division figures — the CSO/Pobal area around Ardara, which is why this unemployment rate can differ from the one behind the quality-of-life scores above (those are Eircode-area wide).
Ardara, Co. Donegal, scores 50/100 on BuyerIQ's Quality of Life composite (cost of living excluded) — #103 of the 108 areas we rank. It's strongest on affordability and family & community.
Ardara scores 71/100 on safety, ~44.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.
The median sale price in Ardara over the last 24 months was €180,000, most between €132,500 and €257,500 (Property Price Register).
Ardara is rated "On the up — emerging" — unemployment fell 20% → 9% — faster than nationally, third-level education up 9 points — faster than nationally.
About 3% of homes sold in Ardara in the last 24 months were new builds (Property Price Register).
2 planning applications were lodged within Ardara in the last 12 months, covering 2 residential units (50 on record) — measured per town, not just at county level.
Ardara scores 83/100 for families and community.
Ardara scores 20/100 for schools and education, with 2 schools in the area.
Ardara is about 205 minutes by road from Galway.
Sale prices from the Property Price Register (rolling 24 months). Quality of Life averages seven equal-weighted dimensions from 40+ metrics across 13 public datasets (CSO census + SAPS, Garda crime, SEAI, EPA, DES schools, GTFS). Population is CSO Census 2022; the “on the up” trajectory compares 2016→2022. Figures refresh daily · an area assessment, not advice on a specific property. Updated August 2026.