Portlaw, Co. Waterford scores 54/100 for quality of life, #61 of the 107 Irish areas BuyerIQ ranks, and its fundamentals are rated “steady — moves with the market”. The median home sells for €240,000 (most €182,500–€347,500), it scores 55/100 for safety (58 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents across its Garda division), 1,460 people live here. It's strongest on affordability and environment, weakest on local economy.
Updated October 2026 · Property Price Register + 20+ official sources, refreshed daily
Below average today — tracking the national trend — no strong local tailwind or headwind.
These seven scores and the 54/100 are measured across the X91 Eircode area, not Portlaw alone — an area that takes in much of Waterford. 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 Portlaw is #52 of 107 for value for money (most quality of life per euro).
The score is for the X91 Eircode area; the crime rate is recorded per Garda division (Waterford). Neither is measured for Portlaw on its own.
1,460 people.
Population is for Portlaw 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 Portlaw, which is why this unemployment rate can differ from the one behind the quality-of-life scores above (those are Eircode-area wide).
Portlaw, Co. Waterford, scores 54/100 on BuyerIQ's Quality of Life composite (cost of living excluded) — #61 of the 107 areas we rank. It's strongest on affordability and environment.
The X91 Eircode area around Portlaw scores 55/100 on safety. Its Garda division, Waterford, records ~58.0 crimes per 1,000 residents (An Garda Síochána); there is no official figure for Portlaw on its own.
Portlaw is rated "below average" on the Pobal HP Deprivation Index, averaging -8.0 across its Electoral Divisions, where 0 is the national average (range -10.1 to -5.9) (Pobal / CSO Census 2022).
The median sale price in Portlaw over the last 24 months was €240,000, with most sales between €182,500 and €347,500 (Property Price Register, rolling 24 months).
The median sale price in Portlaw over the last 24 months was €240,000, most between €182,500 and €347,500 (Property Price Register).
Portlaw is rated "Steady — moves with the market" — unemployment fell 16% → 8% — faster than nationally, recorded crime rising faster than the town is growing.
New builds are rare in Portlaw — under 1% of recent sales (Property Price Register).
5 planning applications were lodged within Portlaw in the last 12 months (46 on record) — measured per town, not just at county level.
Portlaw scores 65/100 for families and community.
Portlaw scores 30/100 for schools and education, with 1 school in the area.
Portlaw is about 23 minutes by road from Waterford.
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 October 2026.