Remote Work · Census 2022

Working from home in Ireland — Census 2022

Census 2022 counted 259,467 people working mainly from home — 11.31% of everyone at work. Wicklow leads at 13.99%; Monaghan is lowest at 7.41%. The data is below.

Niall Thomas · 5 min read

Remote work in Census 2022 — key national figures

Mainly Work From Home

11.31%

Share of persons at work

People

259,467

Work mainly at or from home

Persons at Work

2,293,738

Travel-to-work total

Highest County

13.99%

Wicklow

Source: CSO Census 2022 — means of travel to work (Profile 7). The rate is people who work mainly at or from home as a share of all persons at work; it does not include people who work from home only some days. No 2016 comparison is shown.

Working from home rate by electoral division, Census 2022 Switch to education → Switch to unemployment →

Remote work rates by county — Census 2022

Share of persons at work who mainly worked from home in Census 2022, by county.

County	Works mainly from home	People
1. Wicklow	13.99%	9,548
2. Dublin	12.65%	87,220
3. Sligo	12.43%	3,730
4. Cork	12.15%	31,773
5. Kildare	11.79%	13,439
6. Donegal	11.20%	7,492
7. Galway	11.12%	13,770
8. Carlow	11.08%	2,948
9. Meath	10.98%	11,039
10. Kilkenny	10.92%	4,994
11. Waterford	10.68%	5,855
12. Clare	10.59%	5,859
13. Kerry	10.45%	6,886
14. Limerick	10.24%	9,195
15. Leitrim	10.23%	1,500
16. Wexford	10.07%	6,939
17. Tipperary	9.61%	6,983
18. Louth	9.56%	5,613
19. Roscommon	9.41%	2,761
20. Westmeath	9.27%	3,875
21. Mayo	9.13%	5,248
22. Laois	8.72%	3,459
23. Offaly	8.28%	2,900
24. Cavan	8.17%	2,863
25. Longford	7.60%	1,485
26. Monaghan	7.41%	2,093

What remote work has changed

Rural repopulation: The electoral divisions with the fastest population growth in Census 2022 relative to 2016 include areas in Leitrim, Roscommon, and west Galway where remote workers have relocated. This is the first time in decades that some of these areas have grown.
Commuter belt redefined: The practical commuting zone for Dublin workers has expanded. In 2016, a Portlaoise or Mullingar commute was unusual. By 2022, the combination of flexible working and improved broadband infrastructure makes living 100km from Dublin genuinely viable for many professions.
Housing market impact: The towns that saw the strongest remote-work in-migration between 2016 and 2022 also saw the largest increases in house prices and demand for larger homes (home offices). Carrick-on-Shannon, Roscommon town, and Strokestown are examples of this pattern.
Urban office district impact: Dublin's docklands and city centre EDs saw reduced daytime population intensity — reflected in higher retail vacancy rates in adjacent areas. The Census does not directly capture this but employment and occupancy data at ED level shows the pattern.
Sectoral concentration: Remote working in Ireland is heavily concentrated in professional services, tech, financial services, and pharma — the higher-income sectors. Retail, construction, agriculture, and hospitality workers cannot work from home. This creates a clear socioeconomic split visible in the Pobal deprivation scores of high-WFH EDs versus low-WFH EDs.

Where remote workers are choosing to live

The data shows two distinct patterns. The first is in the commuter belt — Wicklow, Kildare, Meath, and Louth workers who previously commuted daily but now only need to travel to Dublin two or three days a week. They remain in their existing homes or move slightly further out.

The second pattern is longer-distance relocation — workers who moved from Dublin or other cities to the west, northwest, or midlands. These workers chose areas with strong natural amenity (Leitrim, Sligo, Galway Bay), affordable housing, and increasingly adequate broadband. The National Broadband Plan rollout was a necessary precondition for this shift.

Explore work patterns on the map

IrelandInsights maps Census 2022 employment data for every electoral division. Switch to employment metrics to see how work patterns vary between EDs and counties.

Employment rate map Education level map Leitrim population growth Unemployment map

Explore remote-work counties

Leitrim Roscommon Sligo Mayo Donegal Galway Wicklow Kildare Meath Clare

← Rural Ireland · Commuter towns →

Wicklow (13.99%) and Dublin (12.65%) have the highest rates of working mainly from home. Which counties lead, and why, will be the story to watch in Census 2027.

Data: CSO Census 2022 · Place of Work, School or College — Census of Anonymised Records · cso.ie/census

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Frequently asked questions

What percentage of Irish workers work from home?

Census 2022 counted 259,467 people working mainly at or from home — 11.31% of all persons at work. This measure counts people who work mainly from home; it does not include people who work from home only some days. The highest county rates are in Wicklow (13.99%) and Dublin (12.65%).

Which parts of Ireland are best for remote workers?

For remote workers relocating within Ireland, Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, and west Galway offer the strongest combination of low housing costs, natural amenity, and improving broadband. Carrick-on-Shannon, Roscommon town, and Westport saw the strongest residential demand growth between 2016 and 2022. For those staying within reach of Dublin, Laois, Offaly, Westmeath, and Longford offer low housing costs with motorway access. Census 2022 maps remote work rates, employment, and population change at electoral division level for all of Ireland.

Has remote working increased rural population in Ireland?

Yes — Census 2022 showed population growth in rural western counties that had been declining for decades. Leitrim, Roscommon, and parts of Mayo and Galway recorded their first net population growth in many years. The National Broadband Plan rollout and employer acceptance of remote working are the primary enablers. Towns like Carrick-on-Shannon and Roscommon town saw particularly strong residential demand growth between 2016 and 2022.