Life in Ireland: City dwellers have higher disposable income

CSO figures reveal people living in urban areas are more likely to be single and pay higher rent, while those living in rural areas have better health, writes Kevin O’Neill.

City dwellers are more likely to be single, have a higher disposable income, and be closer to essential services, but also to pay higher rent and be less likely to commute by car. People in rural areas are more likely to work from home, leave later for work, and have better health.

A CSO report, ‘Urban and Rural Life in Ireland 2019,’ gauged differences in income, housing, health, education and commuting patterns, based on location. 30% of people in Ireland live in rural areas — the EU average is 27.3%.

The report breaks the country into six categories: cities, satellite urban towns, independent urban towns, rural area with high urban influence, rural areas with moderate urban influence, and highly rural/remote areas.

Among the key findings are:

Age, sex, and geographical distribution

Between 2011 and 2016, Ireland’s population increased by 3.6%, to 4.69m people. Of this, 2.9m live in urban areas; the number living in highly rural or remote areas declined by 0.6%.

In Cork, just 7% of people live in remote areas; the corresponding figure in Kerry is 27.5%. Other counties had a much different make-up. In Kildare and Wicklow, for example, more than half the population live in satellite towns. In Louth, two-thirds live in independent urban towns.

Household and families

More single people live in cities. The rate of single people in cities was 47.2%, well above the State average of 41.1%.

In rural areas with high urban influence, 56% are married — 8% higher than than the State average; remote areas have a higher percentage of widowed people, at 7%.

The percentage of people living alone increased with age, too, and varied depending on location. The highest rates for people living alone were seen in independent urban towns, where 31.2% of those aged 65 and over, and 50% of those aged 85 and over, lived alone.

The greatest proportion of young families is found in satellite towns.

Income

The average disposable income in the State is €20,869, but varies based on geography. People in cities have the highest, at €23,497, with independent urban towns the lowest, at €17,433.

The deprivation rate and deprivation rate for those at risk of poverty are highest for independent urban towns, at 24.2% and 53.3%, respectively.

Cities have the highest median household disposable income of the six classified areas in 2017, at €46,458. Self-employment is more prevalent in rural areas than urban areas.

Housing

More than three-in-four rural dwellers live in detached houses. Detached houses account for just 42% of the total stock. The smallest portion of detached houses is in cities, at just 12.3%. Nearly seven-out-of-ten city-dwellers live in cities.

Houses in rural areas are also more likely to be older. About 13% of rural homes were built before 1919. In contrast, 36.3% of satellite towns have been built since 2001.

The number of new homes being built is on the rise in most areas, but the strongest growth is, unsurprisingly, concentrated in urban areas. Some 3,948 new dwellings were built in satellite towns last year, versus just 1,043 in rural areas.

Nearly four-in-ten new dwellings built last year were in Dublin.

Property prices and rent

Property prices are also dependent on location — the median price for residential property was €249,999 in 2018, with the highest prices in cities, at €336,000, followed by €288,847 in satellite urban towns. The lowest median price was €125,000 in remote areas.

The rent burden — disposable income minus rent — is highest in cities, where the average rent is 31.0% of disposable household income. The average rent burden in Ireland in 2016 was 29.0%.

Proximity to services

In general, the more urbanised areas have shorter distances to everyday services.

For example, the average distance to a public bus stop in remote areas, at 7.1km, is 17 times longer than the average 0.4km distance in cities. The average distance to a train station in rural and remote areas is 47.3km — 14 times longer than in cities, at 3.3km.

The average distance to a HSE adult emergency department is 20.1km in Ireland, with the shortest average distance, 4.4km, in cities, and the longest, 45.0km, in rural and remote areas.

Health and disability

More than half (59.4%) of people describe their general health as ‘very good’, while 1.6% say it’s ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’. Rural areas with high urban influence have the best rates, with ‘very good’ health at 64.0% and ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ health at 1.2%. The lowest rates of ‘very good’ health are in rural areas with high urban influence, at 55.2%, while these areas also have the highest proportion of ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ health, at 2.0%.

The proportion of the population with a disability is 13.6% in Ireland as of 2016, but this varies from 15.4% in ‘independent urban towns’ to 11.9% in ‘rural areas with high urban influence’.

Education

One in three in cities have a third-level degree or higher in 2016. Nearly three in 10 people (28.2%) who had ceased their full-time education in 2016 have a third-level degree or higher.

The highest proportion of people with at least a third-level degree is in cities, at 35.3%, followed by satellite urban towns, at 31.7%. The lowest proportion is 18.3%, in highly rural/remote areas.

Commuting

Outside the cities, less than 2% of people travelling to work, school, or college do so by bicycle. Nearly three million workers and students commuted in 2016 — an increase of 9.3% on the 2011 figure of 2.7m and a rise of 62% since 1986.

Driving a car is the most popular way to commute, with 40.6% of people doing so. The lowest proportion of commuters who drive is 33.6%, in cities, with the highest, 48.2%, in rural areas with high urban influence.

The highest proportion of commuters who cycle is 6.1% in cities, in contrast to between 0.5%-0.7% of commuters in the three rural areas.

Just under half the population travel less than 15 minutes to work, school, or college in urban towns, but, overall, the average commute is 24.3 minutes. Commuters in satellite towns are most likely to leave before 7am, with one-in-five leaving between 8.31am and 9am.

One-in-ten workers in rural/remote areas work from home, while just 2.3% of city-dwellers do.