Portlaw, Co. Waterford scores 59/100 for quality of life, #59 of the 108 Irish areas BuyerIQ ranks, and its fundamentals are rated “steady — moves with the market”. The median home sells for €210,000 (most €177,500–€333,750), it scores 51/100 for safety (75.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents), 1,460 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 — tracking the national trend — no strong local tailwind or headwind.
These seven scores and the 59/100 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 #50 of 108 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 59/100 on BuyerIQ's Quality of Life composite (cost of living excluded) — #59 of the 108 areas we rank. It's strongest on affordability and transport & services.
Portlaw scores 51/100 on safety, ~75.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.
The median sale price in Portlaw over the last 24 months was €210,000, most between €177,500 and €333,750 (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).
8 planning applications were lodged within Portlaw in the last 12 months (46 on record) — measured per town, not just at county level.
Portlaw scores 66/100 for families and community.
Portlaw scores 32/100 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 August 2026.