Living in Dundalk, Co. Louth: Schools, Commute & House Prices 2026

Leinster house prices & rents › Louth › Living in Dundalk

Dundalk is a town in Co. Louth, about 71 minutes from Dublin city centre by car and on the rail line, 30 schools, 57.1% of households own their home. Living here costs a median €315,500 to buy or €1,427 a month to rent (a 5.4% gross yield).

Official CSO, Department of Education, Transport for Ireland, PPR & RTB data · 602 sales · updated July 2026

How Dundalk compares: at €315,500 it is 15% below the County Louth median of €370k. Its 5.4% gross yield is above the county average of 4.7%.Recent activity in Dundalk: latest recorded sale Jun 2026; 845 new homes approved in the last year; prices +10.7% year on year. This page updates as new official data lands.

Who lives in Dundalk — 57.1% own their home, full Census breakdown

Who lives in Dundalk

43,112 people live in Dundalk on Census 2022 night. 57% of households own their home and 37% rent, so Dundalk leans towards owner occupiers. The most common way to commute is by car (62%). It skews young: 21% are under 15 against 14% aged 65 and over. 37% of those who have finished education hold a third level qualification.

Source: CSO Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics for the Dundalk built-up area, CC-BY 4.0.

Getting around and commuting

Nearest train station: Dundalk (in the town), on several Dublin intercity lines

Public transport serving Dundalk — Rail + bus

Getting around Dundalk

Dundalk is served by 11 public-transport operators running 31 scheduled routes. Operators are Bus Éireann, Eamon McEntee, Halpenny Travel, Iarnród Éireann / Irish Rail, Matthews Coach Hire, McGill Coach Travel, Pat Keenan Coach Hire, Robbie Finegan Coaches, Royal Breffni Tours, Streamline Coaches and TFI Local Link Cavan Monaghan.

Scheduled routes (a sample of 31)

• 100 - Drogheda - Dundalk - Newry
• 160 - Dundalk - Ravensdale - Newry
• 161 - Dundalk - Carlingford - Newry
• 162 - Dundalk - Monaghan - Clones - Cavan
• 167 - Dundalk - Louth - Ardee
• 168 - Dundalk - Annagassan
• 169 - Blackrock - Dundalk
• 170 - Cavan - Dundalk
• 171 - Shercock - Dundalk
• 174 - Long Walk - Muirhevnamuir
• 900 - Dundalk - Dublin
• 901 - Dundalk - Drogheda - Dublin
• 916 - Dundalk - Bay Estate
• 917 - Dundalk - Muirhevnamor

Source: Transport for Ireland GTFS_All feed (NTA), CC-BY 4.0. Stops matched to the town within a 6 km radius; route list capped.

Commute to Dublin from Dundalk

Driving from Dundalk to Dublin city centre takes about 64 minutes by car on a clear run. That makes it the 2nd-closest to Dublin of the 2 Louth towns we have routed, behind Drogheda at 42 minutes.

Door-to-centre driving time routed on OpenStreetMap road data via OSRM, no live traffic. Comparison is against the Leinster commuter towns routed so far. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Schools in Dundalk

There are 22 primary and 8 post-primary schools in and around Dundalk, 12 of them in the DEIS programme.

Showing the 14 largest of 30.

Source: Department of Education, Data on Individual Schools. CC-BY 4.0.

Things to do in and around Dundalk

• Heritage nearby: Proleek Megalithic Tombs (5 km) · Mellifont Abbey (29 km) · Knowth Passage Tomb Cemetery (34 km) · Newgrange Passage Tomb (35 km)
• Walking trails in County Louth: Tain Way · Annaloughan Loop · Barnavave Loop · Boyne Valley Camino

Full guide: things to do in Dundalk →

Where Dundalk is

Map © OpenStreetMap contributors

What it costs: house prices and rent in Dundalk

What this means: New builds in Dundalk sell at about a 49% premium to second-hand homes (€394,999 vs €265,000).

Recent sales in Dundalk

Actual sale prices from the Property Price Register, verifiable at propertypriceregister.ie.

Dundalk median price, year by year

Average rent by size

Maximum legal rent increase in Dundalk

Since 1 March 2026 a rent review is capped at the lower of 2% a year (pro rata) or CPI inflation.

The full March 2026 rent review rules

Dundalk compared with County Louth

Rent or buy in Dundalk?

At a glance: €315,500 to buy versus €1,427 a month to rent, a 5.4% gross yield.

Local Property Tax in Dundalk

The median home (€315,500) falls in LPT Band 3, a base charge of €333 a year before Louth County Council's local adjustment factor. Use the calculator for your exact valuation.

Renting in Dundalk: the March 2026 rent rules

Every rent increase is now capped at the lesser of 2% a year (pro rata) or CPI inflation, nationwide since 1 March 2026. A review needs 90 days' notice on the RTB form, no more than one in any 12 months, and the notice must cite three comparable homes from the RTB Rent Register. Check any rent increase against the legal cap, or see average rents for every Leinster town.

Before you move: planning and flood

Recent development in Dundalk

In the 12 months to July 2026, 247 planning grants were recorded in and around Dundalk, including 845 new homes approved across those grants.

Source: Irish Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (ArcGIS, CC-BY 4.0). Granted applications keyed to the nearest town within 7 km. Homes column shows residential units in the application where recorded.

What this means: The 845 homes approved here in the last year are about 5% of Dundalk's roughly 15,923 households, a supply pipeline that typically eases price pressure.

Flood maps

For the modelled fluvial, coastal and pluvial flood extents around Dundalk, open the official OPW flood maps, the authoritative source for Dundalk, Louth.

View the official OPW flood maps for Dundalk →

Source: Office of Public Works, floodinfo.ie. No OPW flood-extent values are reproduced here.

County context

Planning permissions are reported at NUTS3 region level; counties in this region share a figure.

Sources: CSO F1001, CIA02, BHQ09. CC-BY 4.0.

Nearby Louth towns

Ardee · Drogheda

All Louth house prices · All Leinster house prices · Things to do in Dundalk

Sources: CSO Census 2022, Department of Education, Transport for Ireland, Property Price Register (PSRA), CSO RPPI, RTB via CSO. CC-BY. Figures verifiable at the official source.