Arklow, Co. Wicklow scores 60/100 for quality of life, #54 of the 108 Irish areas BuyerIQ ranks, and its fundamentals are rated “on the up — emerging”. The median home sells for €306,000 (most €236,000–€378,214), it scores 70/100 for safety (43.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents), 12,137 people live here. It's strongest on affordability and transport & services, weakest on local economy.
Updated August 2026 · Property Price Register + 20+ official sources, refreshed daily
Below average today — but the fundamentals are turning, faster than the national trend.
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 Arklow is #50 of 108 for value for money (most quality of life per euro).
12,137 people.
36th most vibrant large town in Ireland, of 65 ranked.
Vibrancy is the plain count of places to eat, drink and go out — restaurants, cafés, pubs, takeaways, nightclubs and cinemas in and around the town. Per head is the different question of whether a town is well served for its size.
Ranked against large towns only. Tourist towns read high — the venues are real, but not all of them are there for the people who live here.
Arklow, Co. Wicklow, scores 60/100 on BuyerIQ's Quality of Life composite (cost of living excluded) — #54 of the 108 areas we rank. It's strongest on affordability and transport & services.
Arklow scores 70/100 on safety, ~43.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.
The median sale price in Arklow over the last 24 months was €306,000, most between €236,000 and €378,214 (Property Price Register).
Arklow is rated "On the up — emerging" — unemployment fell 20% → 11% — faster than nationally, third-level education up only 4 points — behind the national rise, prices up 10.6%, recorded crime falling.
About 7% of homes sold in Arklow in the last 24 months were new builds (Property Price Register).
41 planning applications were lodged within Arklow in the last 12 months, covering 188 residential units (367 on record) — measured per town, not just at county level.
Arklow scores 75/100 for families and community.
Arklow scores 37/100 for schools and education, with 9 schools in the area.
Arklow is about 65 minutes by road from Dublin, with 1 rail stop nearby.
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.