Ireland’s best towns for work-life balance

What creates a great work-life balance?

A good work-life balance is essential for maintaining a healthy and happy life.

Finding the right balance between your professional and personal life is the goal, so reducing stressors like long commutes and school runs or high housing costs and boosting things that help you feel good like spending time outdoors, going to the gym or having a chat over lunch can improve the quality of life.

If you’re hybrid working you need fast, reliable broadband and mobile coverage, somewhere to take a break, keep fit or pop to shops; but you’ll also need good transport links for commuting.

If you have a family, you’ll want to be close to health services, schools and supermarkets and feel safe in your neighbourhood.

Factors we researched

Alongside house prices and crime rate, our research compared what’s on offer in each town.

The Work-Life Balance Index includes:

• broadband speeds and 5G mobile coverage
• sports facilities and leisure centres nearby
• cafes and coffee shops nearby
• major supermarkets nearby
• green spaces such as national and public parks and gardens
• primary schools and GP surgeries
• proximity to major roads and bus stops

Check out the full Work-Life Balance Index 2024 here.

Ten best towns for work-life balance

It was a close-run race for a place in our top 10 best places for work-life balance.

Many towns have lots to offer young professionals and families, even though house prices are high in many areas. Some towns we surveyed ranked highly for all sorts of factors, including access to local amenities and nearby services to affordable housing and green spaces.

6. Wicklow

Despite the high house prices in Wicklow, the proximity to Dublin, coastal location and good local services make it one of the top places for quality of life. In 2022, 37% of the Wicklow workforce worked from home at least one day a week, higher than the national average and perhaps proof that it’s a great town to live and work.

7. Cavan

Set within drumlin hills and lakes, affordable housing and good family amenities put Cavan in the seventh spot. Residents are spoilt for sports and leisure facilities, though it’s less safe than many other towns in the survey.

8. Ashbourne

The satellite town of Ashbourne is a thriving and quickly growing town with all the facilities you need to live, work and raise a family in Ireland. Although just 40 minutes away from Dublin by car, it’s likely you’ll find everything you want in Ashbourne including a cinema and retail park.

10. Athy

Athy in County Kildare has a lot to offer home workers and commuters. One of the cheapest towns in the east, with good transport links to larger towns and cities it’s no surprise it’s one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland.

Best places for health, fitness and wellbeing

A good work-life balance can be achieved by making the most of remote working opportunities, but it’s easy to slip into a sedentary lifestyle without the daily commute.

To stay well in mind and body, it pays to keep active and enjoy the great outdoors whenever you can.

Top 5 towns for leisure facilities, parks and green spaces

To find our best towns for well-being, we counted the number of public and community sports facilities, leisure centres, national and public parks and gardens per 1,000 people in each town.

1. Cavan
2. Athy
3. Ballina
4. Ashbourne
5. Killarney

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 Castlebar.

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 couldn’t be easier.

Top 5 towns 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 town.

1. Castlebar
2. Wexford
3. Athlone
4. Arklow
5. Wicklow

Best towns 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.

Here’s our top 5 based on telecoms provision and transport network distances:

1. Galway
2. Carlow
3. Mullingar
4. Swords
5. Balbriggan

Worst towns for broadband and 5G

Our research found that Ireland’s towns are well served by high-speed fibre broadband thanks to the rollout of SIRO and the National Broadband Plan (NBP). However, some towns are lagging behind and either missing out on 5G or waiting for full fibre to roll out in their area.

While most towns are now served by full fibre, some counties fared better than others and there may well be blackspots within towns. For example, some towns in County Dublin like Rush and Skerries experienced slower average internet speeds and fewer full fibre options.

To gauge mobile quality we looked at telecom networks offering 5G in each town and the quality of outdoor coverage. Kildare towns like Celbridge, Naas and Leixlip appeared to have a poorer 5G than neighbouring counties further west.