Kinsale, Co. Cork scores 79/100 for quality of life, #4 of the 108 Irish areas BuyerIQ ranks, and its fundamentals are rated “prime & compounding”. The median home sells for €438,326 (most €383,260–€615,055), it scores 89/100 for safety (17.3 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents), 5,991 people live here. It's strongest on environment and safety.
Updated August 2026 · Property Price Register + 20+ official sources, refreshed daily
Above average today — affluent already, and still strengthening.
These seven scores and the 79/100 are measured across the P17 Eircode area, not Kinsale alone — an area that takes in much of CORK. 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 Kinsale is #1 of 108 for value for money (most quality of life per euro).
The score is for the P17 Eircode area; the crime rate is recorded per Garda division (Cork West). Neither is measured for Kinsale on its own.
5,991 people.
Population is for Kinsale itself (Census 2022, Small-Area boundary).
3rd most vibrant small town in Ireland, of 131 ranked.
Ranked against small towns only; tourist towns read high.
Census profile and the affluence rating are Electoral Division figures — the CSO/Pobal area around Kinsale, which is why this unemployment rate can differ from the one behind the quality-of-life scores above (those are Eircode-area wide).
Kinsale, Co. Cork, scores 79/100 on BuyerIQ's Quality of Life composite (cost of living excluded) — #4 of the 108 areas we rank. It's strongest on environment and safety.
Kinsale scores 89/100 on safety, ~17.3 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.
The median sale price in Kinsale over the last 24 months was €438,326, most between €383,260 and €615,055 (Property Price Register).
Kinsale is rated "Prime & compounding" — unemployment fell 10% → 6%, in line with nationally, third-level education up 9 points — faster than nationally, prices up 29.2%.
About 31% of homes sold in Kinsale in the last 24 months were new builds (Property Price Register).
75 planning applications were lodged within Kinsale in the last 12 months, covering 200 residential units (508 on record) — measured per town, not just at county level.
Kinsale scores 84/100 for families and community.
Kinsale scores 76/100 for schools and education, with 5 schools in the area.
Kinsale is about 30 minutes by road from Cork.
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.