Ireland’s best counties for work-life balance
A good balance between life and work is key to good health and well-being, so Switcher has researched house prices, internet speeds, local services, transport, green spaces and leisure to find the best Irish counties to live and work.
In 2024 a Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Right to Request Remote and Flexible Working was published to recognise the importance of family life and work-life balance.
The introduction of this Code will have many positive impacts on the quality of life, including increasing the chances of renting or buying a home in more affordable locations.
Our latest Switcher.ie Work Life Balance Index (WLBI) looks at counties across Ireland to find the top places to strike the perfect work-life balance.
What creates a great work-life balance?
A good work-life balance promotes good health, personal happiness and better relationships.
Reducing stressors like high housing costs, patchy internet, long commutes or school runs, while boosting things that help you feel good like spending time in nature, physical exercise or meeting up for lunch with friends can improve the quality of life.
For hybrid workers, must-haves are access to high-speed internet and reliable mobile connectivity, spaces for breaks and exercise, and proximity to essential amenities and transport networks.
If you have a family, you’ll want an affordable, safe and secure neighbourhood close to essential services like health care, schools and supermarkets.
It’s fair to say that finding a balance between your professional and personal life is key to wellbeing.
Factors we researched
Our study compared a range of factors across each county.
The Work-Life Balance Index includes:
Check out the full Work-Life Balance Index 2025 here.
Ten best counties for work-life balance
It was a close-run race for a place in our top 10 best places for work-life balance.
Ireland has much to offer young professionals and families, even though house prices are prohibitively high in many areas, especially around Dublin.
Often the most expensive counties were the best served, but some smaller counties ranked highly for all sorts of factors, including access to local amenities or to affordable housing and green spaces.
1. Galway
Galway takes the top spot in Switcher.ie’s Work-Life Balance Index and is officially our 2025 winner.
The lively harbour city of Galway has great 5G, superfast broadband, a vast array of places to eat and drink and good access to family services and transport. There’s a winning mix of leisure facilities, shops, cafes and plenty of green spaces across the county.
With comparatively affordable housing and easy access to Ireland’s stunning west coast - it’s hard to find a better place to balance work and family life.
2. Cork
As runner-up for Ireland’s most desirable county for work-life balance, Cork blends city sophistication with the rural charms of market towns and picturesque villages.
Cork City, the vibrant county capital, offers a thriving arts and culture scene, a renown university, and a bustling harbour. But beyond the city - with the rugged beauty of the Beara Peninsula and the dramatic coastal cliffs - the county offers breathtaking scenery and endless opportunities for hiking and outdoor adventure.
Cork’s excellent infrastructure and access to amenities in towns like Carrigaline, Kinsale and Mallow make it a great place for families to flourish and young professionals to live and work.
3. Carlow
Often overlooked, Carlow offers a mix of rural tranquillity and urban convenience. Located in the southeast of Ireland, it’s set among rolling green hills, charming villages, and a rich history.
Affordable housing and excellent connectivity to Dublin and other major cities make Carlow an ideal location for a quieter lifestyle while maintaining easy access to local amenities and community services.
The town of Carlow is home to around 40% of Carlow’s population, while other small towns are Muinebeag (Bagenalstown), Tullow, and Graiguenamanagh-Tinnahinch.
4. Roscommon
Castles, lakes and beautiful scenery steeped in a rich history, county Roscommon has good transport links and leisure facilities. What’s more, it’s one of the cheapest and safest counties to live in with low house prices and crime rates.
Besides the county town of Roscommon, there’s the delightful market towns of Boyle, nestled alongside the Curlew mountains, and Castlerea framed by the rivers Suck and beautiful woodland.
5. Westmeath
In the heart of Ireland, Westmeath blends rural charm with industrious towns. Known for its iconic geographic features, including the Lough Ree, and Royal Canal, Westmeath villages dot the countryside, while the county towns of Athlone, the commercial capital of the Midlands and Mullingar serve as thriving hubs of commerce and culture.
Westmeath enjoys excellent connectivity to Dublin and other major cities. This makes it an ideal choice for those seeking a balance between a peaceful lifestyle and convenient access to urban amenities.
6. Sligo
With long sandy beaches, this stunning but affordable county on the northwest coast of Ireland enjoys a host of cafes and coffee shops, good access to health services, schools and decent fibre broadband.
Although Sligo is by far the biggest town in the county, the smaller towns of Strandhill and Collooney are good coastal alternatives or Tubbercurry for a more affordable option.
Sligo may have been overlooked in the past due to its rural location, but if you’re free to work anywhere or a watersports fanatic - Sligo could be a remote worker’s paradise.
7. Dublin
Home to the energetic and cosmopolitan capital Dublin City and surrounded by the ‘successor counties’ of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin, it unsurprisingly topped the tables for connectivity, transport links and facilities.
Although the city performed well across many categories with easy access to green spaces and excellent local amenities, Dublin had the highest crime rates and some of the highest prices in the country.
8. Laois
This midlands county, sometimes referred to as the Hidden Heartlands is home to the ancient Rock of Dunamase and the Slieve Bloom mountains.
The lively county town of Portlaoise has a good selection of shops and restaurants, whilst Abbeyleix and Stradbally are vibrant heritage towns. One of the best places for fixed and mobile broadband, its accessible location, which is well served by transport links to Dublin, makes it one of the better places for work-life balance.
9. Mayo
Situated on Ireland’s wild Atlantic coast, County Mayo is a land of dramatic landscapes, rich heritage, and vibrant culture.
Home to much-loved Westport and family-friendly Castlebar and Ballina, Mayo’s mix of stunning scenery and safe, strong community give it a place in the top 10 and a top 5 place for working families.
Mayo’s weakness was transport and telecoms, which performed less well than other counties.
10. Wicklow
Although Wicklow is one of the most expensive counties in Ireland, its proximity to Dublin City, its coastal location, leisure facilities, and local amenities make it one of the standout counties for quality of life.
The largest coastal towns of Arklow, Bray and Greystones offer plenty for young professionals and families with good schools, transport links and green spaces.
The most recent census shows that towns in County Wicklow have the highest populations working from home - perhaps proof that it’s a great place to live and work.
Best counties for hybrid working
If you’re lucky enough to have the choice to work at home or in the office, hybrid working is a great way to achieve a good work-life balance.
However, you’ll need the best of both worlds: a fast, solid internet connection and easy access to major routes or transport links for commuting.
Unsurprisingly, counties with major cities fared best for full fibre coverage, fixed broadband and 5G mobile speeds and transport links.
Here’s our top 5 based on telecoms provision and distance to transport networks:
Fixed and mobile broadband
- Dublin and successor counties
- Laois
- Kildare
- Galway
- Cork
Transport links
- Dublin and successor counties
- Sligo
- Cork
- Laois
- Louth
Best places to keep fit and stay healthy
Working from home has lots of benefits, but it’s easy to slip into a sedentary lifestyle. To stay well in mind and body, it pays to keep active and enjoy the great outdoors whenever you can.
The counties of Tipperary and Dublin had the best access to fitness facilities, whereas Sligo and Leitrim were tops for accessible green spaces.
Top 5 counties for leisure facilities, parks and green spaces
To find our best counties for well-being, we looked at proximity to leisure and sports facilities and access to green spaces such as coastline, national parks and public parks.
- Tipperary
- Monaghan
- Carlow
- Westmeath
- Roscommon
Best places to shop and eat
The top place to pop out to the shops, grab a bite to eat or catch up with friends is Galway.
There’s a superb range of cafes if you want to pop out for a quick coffee or a cheap lunch, and with a great choice of major supermarkets, the weekly shop is a breeze.
Top 5 counties for shopping, cafes and cheap eats
To work out the top places to grab a quick bite we totalled all the major supermarkets in each area and counted cafes and coffee shops per 1,000 people in each county.
- Galway
- Cork
- Kerry
- Wicklow
- Mayo
Best counties for families
Sligo has taken the top spot for the best place to work from home with a family. Not only does it offer affordable housing, but it’s also a safe place to live and has great access to family-friendly facilities, health services and good schools.
Top 5 counties for working families
To calculate the best county to work from home with a family, we summed index scores for house prices, crime rate, number of GPs surgeries and primary schools.
- Sligo
- Roscommon
- Leitrim
- Mayo
- Donegal
Top 5 affordable counties
Leitrim was the most affordable county to buy a house in our study. House prices were taken from the Residential Property Price Index in October 2024.
- Leitrim
- Longford
- Donegal
- Roscommon
- Cavan
Top 5 safest counties
Roscommon had the lowest rate of recorded crime per 1,000 people in 2023, giving it the top spot as the safest place to live and work. Garda divisions may differ from county boundaries in some instances.
- Roscommon
- Kilkenny
- Mayo
- Carlow
- Leitrim
Work-Life Balance Index 2025
| Rank | County* | Median house price** | Fixed broadband speeds (Mbps) | Mobile speeds (Mbps) | Green spaces score | Super markets | Cafes | Primary schools | GPs | Crime rates | Leisure facilities | Transport links | Work Life Balance score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per 1,000 population | Distances to (km) | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Galway | €332,500 | 130.49 | 75.19 | 0.43 | 0.21 | 0.26 | 0.69 | 1.02 | 36.07 | 9.70 | 6.20 | 7.615 |
| 2 | Cork | €327,500 | 149.33 | 77.28 | 0.26 | 0.14 | 0.37 | 0.52 | 0.97 | 36.62 | 6.80 | 5.55 | 7.505 |
| 3 | Carlow | €254,950 | 137.32 | 63.12 | 0.58 | 0.11 | 0.18 | 0.69 | 0.86 | 23.71 | 7.50 | 7.80 | 7.190 |
| 4 | Roscommon | €187,000 | 79.03 | 52.70 | 0.54 | 0.14 | 0.06 | 1.24 | 0.70 | 18.53 | 8.90 | 6.50 | 6.910 |
| 5 | Westmeath | €285,000 | 121.25 | 60.61 | 0.45 | 0.08 | 0.28 | 0.76 | 0.98 | 46.89 | 7.10 | 6.70 | 6.820 |
| 6 | Sligo | €235,000 | 84.66 | 45.91 | 0.81 | 0.09 | 0.19 | 0.88 | 0.97 | 28.96 | 11.90 | 4.80 | 6.730 |
| 7 | Dublin | €492,500 | 158.16 | 83.58 | 0.24 | 0.12 | 0.14 | 0.30 | 0.90 | 47.95 | 5.10 | 3.78 | 6.375 |
| 8 | Laois | €265,000 | 180.38 | 51.69 | 0.41 | 0.08 | 0.11 | 0.69 | 0.75 | 36.51 | 8.70 | 5.80 | 6.200 |
| 9 | Mayo | €215,000 | 67.87 | 39.12 | 0.62 | 0.12 | 0.20 | 1.11 | 0.78 | 20.52 | 13.20 | 8.40 | 6.100 |
| 10 | Wicklow | €455,000 | 125.46 | 42.78 | 0.48 | 0.14 | 0.20 | 0.53 | 0.88 | 27.31 | 9.10 | 6.80 | 6.100 |
| 11 | Monaghan | €207,250 | 103.40 | 25.28 | 0.58 | 0.12 | 0.09 | 0.95 | 0.57 | 31.75 | 7.40 | 7.80 | 6.000 |
| 12 | Tipperary | €225,000 | 103.39 | 38.33 | 0.34 | 0.06 | 0.11 | 0.91 | 0.76 | 33.84 | 2.90 | 12.00 | 5.986 |
| 13 | Longford | €180,000 | 92.49 | 72.52 | 0.56 | 0.13 | 0.04 | 0.79 | 0.77 | 39.14 | 12.70 | 8.10 | 5.940 |
| 14 | Wexford | €280,000 | 134.10 | 47.17 | 0.38 | 0.12 | 0.06 | 0.62 | 0.83 | 30.44 | 9.80 | 8.20 | 5.870 |
| 15 | Kerry | €249,500 | 80.02 | 31.27 | 0.46 | 0.15 | 0.30 | 0.84 | 0.88 | 33.08 | 14.90 | 7.90 | 5.860 |
| 16 | Limerick | €278,000 | 112.29 5 | 4.99 | 0.25 | 0.10 | 0.11 | 0.63 | 0.96 | 49.62 | 8.30 | 6.20 | 5.830 |
| 17 | Leitrim | €180,000 | 79.31 | 27.80 | 0.74 | 0.14 | 0.03 | 1.05 | 0.68 | 23.89 | 13.60 | 10.90 | 5.690 |
| 18 | Waterford | €287,500 | 123.35 | 53.66 | 0.53 | 0.06 | 0.12 | 0.57 | 1.01 | 51.03 | 9.30 | 9.50 | 5.640 |
| 19 | Clare | €268,500 | 94.91 | 36.88 | 0.53 | 0.08 | 0.15 | 0.85 | 0.68 | 27.22 | 10.50 | 6.90 | 5.530 |
| 20 | Kildare | €399,999 | 177.04 | 41.04 | 0.17 | 0.10 | 0.12 | 0.41 | 0.66 | 34.30 | 7.00 | 6.70 | 5.330 |
| 21 | Donegal | €183,600 | 88.14 | 26.20 | 0.43 | 0.06 | 0.26 | 1.04 | 0.95 | 28.89 | 13.00 | 22.20 | 5.210 |
| 22 | Kilkenny | €300,000 | 94.71 | 32.59 | 0.35 | 0.08 | 0.24 | 0.67 | 0.61 | 19.79 | 9.70 | 10.80 | 5.110 |
| 23 | Cavan | €206,750 | 75.86 | 21.12 | 0.47 | 0.11 | 0.07 | 0.92 | 0.72 | 30.99 | 12.80 | 9.60 | 5.090 |
| 24 | Louth | €320,001 | 115.31 | 47.81 | 0.27 | 0.07 | 0.02 | 0.50 | 0.76 | 46.31 | 6.30 | 6.00 | 5.020 |
| 25 | Offaly | €252,000 | 77.60 | 39.40 | 0.46 | 0.10 | 0.02 | 0.81 | 0.67 | 32.38 | 10.20 | 11.10 | 4.850 |
| 26 | Meath | €360,000 | 115.37 | 42.35 | 0.20 | 0.11 | 0.10 | 0.52 | 0.53 | 27.57 | 8.40 | 7.10 | 4.830 |
* Data for Dublin City and successor counties, Fingal, DLR and South Dublin were analysed separately and averaged to provide an overall City & County score. **House prices are based on RPPI regions, so prices have been averaged where City & County were separate.
Methodology and sources
Methodology
We analysed and scored a series of factors to calculate the best counties for work-life balance. The metrics included:
- House prices
- Fixed broadband speeds
- 4G & 5G mobile speeds
- Number of public parks and access to coastline and national parks
- Number of cafes
- Number of major supermarkets
- Number of primary schools
- Number of GP surgeries
- Crime rates
- Distance to leisure centre with pool and outdoor sports facilities
- Distance to major roads and bus stops
To create the index, we calculated:
- the number of cafes and coffee shops, major supermarkets, public parks, primary schools and GP surgeries per 1,000 population in each county. The data was then normalised.
- house prices and crime rates, median 5G mobile and fixed broadband speeds, distances to major roads and bus stops and sports and leisure facilities were collated for each county. The data was then normalised.
The Work-Life Balance Index score was derived by ‘normalising’ the data categories using the min-max method from 0 to 1.
For example, the counties with the most amenities per 1000 scored closest to 1 and the least facilities closest to 0. The most affordable homes, the highest broadband speeds, and the lowest crime rates and distances to amenities and green spaces scored closest to 1.
The normalisation scores were then summed and ranked to create the Work Life Balance Index.
The data was collected and analysed in December and January 2025.
Sources
* County population: F1004B, Population, Census 2022 CSO.ie. Where city and county data were separate, population counts were summed. * House prices: HPM07, 12 month rolling average median in October 2024, CSO.ie. Where city and county data were separate, house prices were averaged. * FTTP and cable coverage by county: Comreg Quarterly Key Data Report Q3 2024. * Fixed broadband and mobile speeds: Ookla.com. January to June (H1 2024). * Number of GPs per county: GP workforce, Irish College of GPs, Table 1 * Number of supermarkets per county: Google maps - tagged as Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Dunnes or SuperValu and store locator.ie (AI tools assisted). Based on counts from publicly available data and may vary slightly depending on the definition of “county”. * Number of primary schools per county: Gov.ie - Find a school. Primary schools 2023/24. County descriptor counts. * Number of cafes per county: TripAdvisor - tagged Coffee & Tea, Cafe or Quick bites * Number of green spaces: Google maps - tagged as public parks and gardens (AI tools assisted). Counties with a designated National Park and counties with over 60km of coastline (as per Heritage Council) were weighted. * Distance to leisure centres/swimming pool and outdoor sports facilities: MDS02, Average Distance of Residential Dwellings to Selected Services and Infrastructure, 2019 CSO.ie * Distance to primary or secondary road network and public bus stop: MDS02, Average Distance of Residential Dwellings to Selected Services and Infrastructure, 2019 CSO.ie * Crime data: CJA07, Recorded crime incidences by Garda Station, 2023, CSO.ie. Divisions mapped to county by town, so county boundaries may have discrepancies. Last updated 26/09/2024
Compare mortgage rates & deals
Find a range of first time buyer and home mover mortgage deals in Ireland using our comparison.
