Ireland education statistics by area — third-level attainment mapped

Parts of south Dublin record third-level attainment above 70% — while some rural electoral divisions sit below 15%. The national figure of 40.9% (Census 2022) spans a 55-point gap. The same EDs at the bottom of the education ranking tend to sit at the top of unemployment. The data is below.

Ireland education — Census 2022 overview

Areas with the highest third-level attainment

These electoral divisions recorded the highest proportion of adults with a third-level qualification in Census 2022. Third-level attainment above 70% is concentrated in specific south Dublin EDs, university adjacent areas, and parts of major city centres.

Areas with the lowest attainment

EDs below 15% third-level attainment are found in rural midlands, northwest, and some urban peripheral areas. These EDs consistently show higher unemployment and lower home ownership rates in Census 2022.

South Dublin records some of Europe's highest local attainment rates

Electoral divisions in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and parts of south Dublin city record third-level attainment above 70%. This is not a county figure — it is the measured rate at electoral division level from Census 2022 returns. The concentration is geographic, not spread evenly across the county.

The attainment gap between urban and rural Ireland

Some rural EDs in the midlands, northwest, and border regions record rates below 20%. At 40.9% nationally, the gap between the top and bottom decile exceeds 50 percentage points. These divisions often overlap with higher unemployment and lower home ownership rates.

• University towns: EDs in Galway city, Maynooth, Limerick city, and Cork city record above-average attainment driven by proximity to third-level institutions.
• South Dublin concentration: The highest attainment rates in Ireland are found in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and south Dublin suburbs — above 70% in the top electoral divisions.
• Rural midlands gap: Counties like Longford, Roscommon, and Leitrim record third-level attainment well below the national average — often below 25% in individual EDs.
• Urban peripheral estates: Outer city estates in Dublin, Cork, and Limerick show a different profile to rural low-attainment areas — higher density, higher unemployment, lower education.

The 50-percentage-point gap between top and bottom EDs is one of the starker figures in Census 2022 — watch whether it narrows in Census 2027 as third-level participation has risen steadily since 2016.

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