What is the employment rate in Mayo?

The employment rate in Mayo was 51.6% according to Census 2022, compared to a national average of 55.2%. IrelandInsights maps employment at electoral division level for every county in Ireland.

What is the housing tenure breakdown in Mayo?

In Mayo, 80.6% of households are owner-occupied and 8.6% rent privately, according to Census 2022. The national averages are 76.2% owner-occupied and 11.0% privately rented.

Census Profile · Mayo · 2022

County Mayo — High internal ED variation

Mayo's county-level Census 2022 figures sit close to national averages. Employment is 51.6% (national: 55.2%), home ownership 80.6% (national: 76.2%). County averages suppress the internal variation that makes the data meaningful. The gap between the highest and lowest unemployment electoral divisions within Mayo exceeds 15 percentage points — a spread the county headline cannot show.

        Mayo employment rate is -3.6pp vs national.
      

Key statistics — County Mayo

Employment Rate

51.6%

-3.6pp vs national

Owner-Occupied

80.6%

National: 76.2%

Third-Level

48.2%

National: 52.6%

Unemployment

4.4%

National: 4.3%

Top electoral divisions — Unemployment in Mayo

The electoral divisions within County Mayo with the highest unemployment rate, Census 2022.

Electoral Division	Unemployment Rate
1. ARDNAREE SOUTH URBAN	13.9%
2. BALLINA URBAN	10.7%
3. KILFIAN WEST	9.3%
4. BALLYHAUNIS	7.8%
5. CASTLEBAR URBAN	7.8%

Explore Mayo data on the map

Every electoral division in County Mayo is mapped. Hover to inspect Census 2022 figures or ask the AI analyst for a plain-language explanation.

High internal ED variation — Mayo map Employment — Mayo Housing — Mayo

County Mayo — what stands out

What stands out?

County Mayo has a notably high housing vacancy rate, ranking 4th nationally — 24.1% in Census 2022.

Why does it matter?

Housing vacancy is a barometer of housing demand and population pressure. A high rate signals supply vastly exceeding demand — whether from rural depopulation, seasonal use, or post-2008 ghost estates. A low rate signals the opposite: demand that supply cannot match, which directly drives rent and price inflation.

How does it compare nationally?

Mayo24.1%

National avg14.4%

Difference+9.8pp

Rank4 / 26

What's the likely explanation?

Mayo's high vacancy rate reflects decades of rural depopulation along the Atlantic seaboard — properties left empty as families moved east and overseas during the 20th century. The pattern is structural, not market-driven: demand is genuinely weak in many townlands, and the dispersed settlement of the county makes aggregated vacancy statistics look high even when individual villages are far from abandoned. Post-2020 remote working has drawn some reversal, particularly in coastal areas with strong broadband.

County Mayo — census data context

County-level figures aggregate all electoral divisions within Mayo. The map reveals the internal variation those county averages suppress — the gap between the most and least deprived EDs in Mayo is typically far wider than the county-to-national difference highlighted above. View the full Mayo area guide →

Compare counties

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Ireland census guides

→ Where to live in Ireland → Housing crisis by area → Home ownership rates → Education levels → Unemployment by area → Commuter towns → Deprivation map → Population growth

Data: CSO Census 2022 · County Mayo · Electoral Division averages · cso.ie/census